RAGNAR Wasatch Back 2010

A lot of people have wondered how my race went" My mind is still kinda "out of it" so I figured I would give you all a race report so you can get the whole run down and so I would remember better.

My sister in law Katie asked me if I wanted to run the Wasatch Back with her and some friends months ago. I said yes nervously. Could I really do it? I've never been good at ANY athletic type sport, never been on a real team never try anything unless I know without a doubt I can do it. This was stretching the limit for me. I am so glad I got to do this race with 6 of the hottest "HOT TAMALES" and 6 of the hunkiest "BIG HUNKS." That was our team name "Hot Tamales and Big Hunks." The girls had a bit more of a running background so we took van 2 the boys took van 1 (Van 2 is harder).

Two of the girls on our team lost their mothers to cancer this year and Katie (my Sister-in-law) lost her dad to cancer when she was a teenager so we decided to be on the American Cancer Society DetermiNation Team. They would pay our entry fee, get all our food, massages, VIP party in a hotel after the race. Our team together raised over $4,200.00 to help support cancer research. I had a lot of support from my friends and family and I thank you all so much. Every time I think about all the hard work and effort I put in to raise that money I think of my amazing friends and family and how lucky I am to have such great support.

Now lets get started!

Woke up Friday morning at 4:30a.m. got dressed, ate some cereal and toast waiting for a van to pick me up. We drove up to Logan and arrived just in time for team "Safety Training" and packet pick up. Packet pick up was a little bit of a disappointment. Since we where an ACS team they didn't have our bib numbers printed right. So we got left over bib numbers with the wrong numbers and hand written numbers while everyone else got their number and team name printed nicely on their bibs.


Bob (my neighbor) was runner 1. At 8:00 sharp he was off. Van 1 was off for the first 6 legs. The girls decided to go get breakfast at a local cafe while the boys did their first legs. We meet up at exchange 6 ready for the trade off at 1:45. Now the nervousness sets in. I am runner 12 I am expected to run at 4:45. Every trade off is good, all runners do awesome we end off being faster than expected and are ahead at least 30 minutes. My turn is up! It is the hilll I have been dreading. I trained as much as I could on hills at Traverse Mountain preparing for this. It was 3 miles with an elevation gain of 835feet. It is HOT! I take off and every thing feels good. I pass quite a few walkers, feel really good with my hill training. I think it is purely excitement and adrenaline getting me up this hill. I see the exchange and am so glad I was able to run the whole hill without stopping. I arrive 5 minutes ahead of my expected arrival and am feeling pretty good just thirsty and hot. Now we have a break till about 10:00 that night.


ACS has told us to go to Morgan High School and they will have cots for us to get some sleep on and some food in a classroom. We get there and TRY to get some rest. We only get about 3 hours to rest and recover and are off again for the second legs.

We exchange off at exchange station 12 at about 8:30. I am expected to run my 6.5 miles at 3:30ish in the morning. I will need my reflective vest, head lamp, and butt lamp. We are all getting nauseous. Not sure if it from being car sick, dehydration, being in the heat or hungry.
All runners again do awesome! It is now my turn again for leg #24. I am all geared up with warmer clothes, got my GU in my vest in case I need a energy boost. This run is a little bit easier it is not so hot and the hills are minimal. It is dark. My headlamp is not very bright I really can't see the road. I am glad I have an extra light too hold in my hand. I start getting nervous about wild animals in the bushes and wonder what I will do. I don't have many runners near me, occasionally someone will pass me or I will pass them. I kinda feel alone. I should have told my van to stop for me every mile to give me support. I told them to stop at mile 3 and 5 for a quick drink of water. The run goes good. I run without stopping all 6.5 miles. Get to the exchange and hand off to Bob around 4:30 for Van 1's last legs. We have till 8:00 a.m. to rest and recover for our last legs.

Again ACS has cots and food waiting for us at South Summit High (I think that was the school. I was pretty tired.) We get to the school to the reserved classroom and every cot is taken by runners who should not be sleeping on them! We are all so ticked off. We start shaking people to wake them up and tell them they need to get off our cots. Finally after all the commotion, changing our clothes, etc... we lay down. We are feeling really tired, cranky, slightly dehydrated, and really dirty. The cot is better than sleeping on the floor but is not comfortable at all. I am cold. I should have brought a warmer blanket or a sleeping bag. I manage to get 1 hour of sleep and wake up in a near delirious state.

We arrive at exchage 18 for the last trade off. The boys are off to meet us at our hotel suite the ACS has for us in Park City. Runner 7 completes her last run with two nasty blisters on her feet. Runner 8 has a long 6.1 mile run through Heber and gets really sick. She is dehydrated and can't go on any further. Runner 7 takes over for her and runs her last mile. Runner 9 starts with her grueling hill climb that starts "The Ragnar Hill" It is tough! She rotates speed walking with running on her toes and makes it up. In the process of her running we notice the gas light comes on! Why were we not organized. We are on the mountain on a dirt road with absolutely no gas stations around. We drive up to the exchange and ask everyone we pass if they have any gas. They all laugh and say "Ya we have some gas for you" thinking we mean farting I guess. Finally a Ragnar worker says she has some gas for her generator we can use. She puts the two gallons gas in our van. We are near tears grateful for her. Now it is Runner 10 (Katie) this is a horribly grueling 4 mile hill climb up the rest of "The Ragnar Hill" I am amazed at how steep it is. We decide to pull off every mile or sooner to stop and give her water. She is pounding up this hill. Everyone around her is walking and she just keeps running. She is amazing! Now it is Runner 11 she has the 5 mile downhill. She does great! I am waiting at the last exchange feeling great. I CAN DO THIS! 5.1 miles easy right? I am on a roll running through scenic Park City neighborhoods, trails, it's beautilful. I look down at my trusty Garmin and I am going fast. I am running around 8:30 min mile! (That is fast for me) I am getting hot and thirsty. This is a run my van cannot help me on. I see a water station take a quick drink and keep flying. I am giving it all I got. I pass the one mile to go sign. It's almost over! I turn the corner and WTF is that? I did not realize I had to climd another hill! It is steep and I have no energy left. I keep playing "Till I Collapse" by Eminem over and over on my ipod to keep me going. I look down at my watch 4.75 miles and what do I do? I STOP. Why? I couldn't go any further. I walk up this stupid hill. I know the finish line is so close I can hear the cheering. I look down at my watch as I start running again 4.85. I see my team they are waiting to cross the finish line with me. We cross the finish line! They take us immediatly to the finish line and give us our REAL finisher metals. Now what is happening? Oh my gosh I am bawling my eyes out! What is wrong with me? I don't cry! I am so physically and mentally tired! I am also so proud of myself and my amazing team! I finally belonged to a team.

We go up to our room and I am amazed at how much the ACS spoiled us. My kids, Jared, and my in laws are all their to congratulate us. There is Olive Garden, Cafe Rio, Subway, Drinks and more. We relax for awhile try to eat and then try to decide if the race was fun.

Was it fun? Would I do it again? HELL YES in a insane kinda way. I want to do it next year for sure!