Girls on the Ragnar Run

Hot on the heels of Lunafest, 12 ladies from GOTR piled into two vans and drove up to Huntington Beach to prepare to run 200 miles over the course of two days. Are these ladies crazy? Yep!

GOTR Ragnar Relay Shirts

GOTR Ragnar Relay Team

What is the Ragnar Relay?

For those of you not familiar with the Ragnar Relay - its a 200 mile relay race that 12 people (or sometimes less) run over the course of two days. (More details here.)There are two vans which each carry six runners, and runners 1-6 in van #1 run one at a time, and then runners 7-12 from van #2 run one at a time. Rinse, then repeat. Twice. Each runner runs three times, and the race legs vary from ~2 to ~7 miles. 

Van #1 - Runners 1 to 6

Hood to Coast Movie

Recently Fathom Events premiered the Hood to Coast movie and it seemed relay fever was all around me. Soon after watching this film I was asked if I wanted to join the GOTR Ragnar team. Um.... I passed. The idea of running and not showering and sitting around in a van and then running again without sleep totally didn't appeal to me. In stark contrast though, after this movie came out both David and Christina started thinking of who they could include in their relay teams. They both of course included me in their mental lists. Does anyone really know me?? I'd never do this! (Okay, granted I'd "never" do a mud run or triathlon either. Hmm ... I see where their hope came from).

Team Van I Saw - Hilarious!

Lunafest to Vanfest

Lunafest (more on my blog Socialite for a Night) took place this past Thursday night and Ragnar started Friday morning in Huntington Beach. The brave ladies of GOTR attended the event, piled into the vans, drove up to HB, spent the night in a local hotel, and then were up and at it early the next morning. 

GOTR Van #1

The Course

The 200 mile course ran inland from Huntington Beach, down through San Diego, and ended on the beach in Coronado. Full details here.

Baywatch Team - So Funny!

Updates on the Run

When the ladies took off the next day they started emailing me and texting me pictures from the road. I started posting them as I got them to the GOTR Facebook page (ahem - LIKE US!) and was excited to see how much support these posts were getting from our Facebook fans. Our page was HOT HOT HOT.

Girls on the Run - in TUTUS!

Friday was an extremely hot day for the ladies, but they powered through. As Friday came and went, I thought about the team as I went to bed, and marveled at the fact that they'd be running all through the night.

GOTR in Reflective Night Gear

The next morning I got more updates from them, and continued to get updates and pictures throughout the day. I felt like I was there with them! But without having to sit around all sweaty and dirty in a van. ;o)

GOTR Runner Exchange

Finish Line Party

The team was predicting to finish around 6pm on Silver Strand Beach on Coronado. I planned on meeting the team down at the finish and cheering them on with my special pink GOTR cowbell. Parking was tight in the area so I decided to do something I haven't done in over 10 years... I used my bike as a form of transportation. I loaded my bike in my car and drove it down to Coronado, and then hopped on my bike with a backpack full of ice and beverages and headed to the finish line.

Bella Wants to be a GOTR

Moose Channels His Inner GOTR

Somewhere in my plans my math failed me. The beach was about 5 1/2 miles from where I parked which at my biking speed (with a backpack that weighed a ton) I ended up biking for 25 minutes. I was DRENCHED with sweat by the time I arrived! :o( Oh well, at least I made it there. I found the team in their pink tutus and took some pictures of them as the runners from Van #1 and Van #2 arrived. We all waited for about 20 minutes until the last runner came through. Poor Megan had run 40 miles total between her six legs and the additional legs she ran for a sick teammate who had to pull out at the last minute.

Ragnar Team Missing Allison

As soon as she arrived the team assembled as a group and ran in a pink flurry across the finish line.

GOTR Ragnar Team - DONE!

This event was SO much fun to track electronically throughout the event, and even more fun to watch the team cross the finish line. And it still gets better! After they finished we met back in the parking lot for some cake for Tiffany's 40th birthday. I brought a mini bar in my backpack and mixed some drinks as well (sadly nothing for me, I had a race the next day!)

Happy Birthday Tiffany!

Drinks And Cake - Awesome!

Want to run Ragnar next year? Here's where you can find info on signing up.