Ragnar Race Report - Finally

Here is the mostly true story of how Mr. Ragnar crushed Team #17, DTLS.  Let's just begin with "Everything that could go wrong almost did".  The guys and I have been rehashing our mistakes, missteps, and misjudgements for a few weeks now.  Sure we could have done a few things different but no preparation would have gotten us through this race. 

Things were coming together pretty well about a week before the start of the race.  GS had healed up pretty well, MD was in town and doing some real training, J-Fo was looking strong, Nemo was solid as usual, Nance was a little burned out leading up to the race but seemed amped about this event.  I was pretending I wasn't hurt.

As we were leading up to the departure, our first victim fell.  One of our drivers had to bail due to some work and family issues.  No big deal, we had two drivers left and we could get by.  Robert did do well by his absence and came through with a sweet looking design for team shirts.  That along with some scrambling by J-Fo to get some shirts to print and we looked like a very good team. 

All set...

On Thursday night / Friday morning, Nemo had to bail due to a family issue.  He was quite bummed about it but as we know, we are not professionals and family always comes first.  That left us with 5 runners and some decisions to make on Friday morning.  After much review, juggling of running assignments, and thoughts of cancelling our trip, we decided to carry on. 

It was a great ride out to Cumberland and a bit of an antsy day waiting to start but finally around 1:30 we arrived at the start line.  As you can see, the weather wasn't great.  Not too hot but lots of clouds and rain.  We were not going to be able to keep the van or ourselves dry. 

This was going to be a sloppy day and night. 

Nance, contemplating his plan.



MD, he didn't start until late.  He gets pre-race jumpy so this was a long day for him.

Here we are, signed in, gear checked, safety briefing complete and looking ready.  We had no idea what the next 14 hours had in store for us.  Before the beatdown from left to right...

Rob, CT, J-Fo, Keith, Nance, Greg, and Mario

J-Fo is taking the first leg...looking intense!

We made some mistakes early.  We tried to run the same pace as some of the other teams that started with us.  J-Fo was flying but just hanging with the pack because most of these teams were 12 person relay.  When they finished their leg, they were done for a few hours.  We had to keep running.  More on this later. 

And Team DTLS is off...

The race start area is a really pretty park.  This whole section of the state was scenic.  That being said when you get off into the back woods, you get a different kind of folk.

Look at all the satellites dishes....they must really like Direct TV and the NFL Package

After Josh took off, we took our time to leisurely get to where the 3rd leg starts.  We were in no hurry since we had about an hour and a half to get to the Exchange.  We made it with much time to spare.  As the 1:30 mark came and went, we started to get concerned about Josh. 

Me: "Where the Hell is Josh?"
[Then his phone started ringing but we ignored it]
[and then his phone kept ringing...and finally we answered it.  ]
Josh: "Where are you guys?"
Us: "At the Exchange.  Where are you?"
Josh: "At the fucking Exchange."
Us: "We don't see you."
Josh: "I'm the only one in the god damn parking lot."
Us: "We aren't in a parking lot, we are in a field."

Who would have thought that Exchange #2 is where the 3rd leg starts.  We were sitting at Exchange #3, Josh was at Exchange #2.  All 6 Navigators were wrong and Josh wasn't lost, not that he wouldn't be but that is a later story.  So we quickly piled in the van and took off through the woods.  Keith's excellent driving kept the van on the path but it was a little crazy.

Lost in the woods for a while

The might van needed a washing

I didn't get any shots of the runners but the next 2 legs were for GS.  It was brutal.  He had a love hate relationship with this run and didn't want to talk to us when he was done.  He is getting it again next year but don't tell him.

Leg #3

Leg #4

As GS was finishing his leg, we got information from the Race Support that the next leg was cancelled due to flooding. This was going to be my first run but instead, we were instructed to drive to the next exchange and start there.  Skip me and on to Nance.  Before we move on though, the sun peaked out with a little tease but clear skies were not to follow.  Instead we got fog.

Beautiful area but this was about the only sunshine we saw

As we arrived at the next leg, Nance was to start the first of the "night time run" legs.  He was geared up with his cool vest and headlamp ready to go.  Strangely the Race Support was tearing down the course around us.  Because of our late start and the hiccups, we were among the last 5 teams coming through each exchange.  I have to say it was a little irritating.  I'll be talking to Ragnar about it.  Anyway, Nance took off like a bat out of hell up a 2 mile hill...past some useless course support in the form of local police.  They were paked in front of the course markings and Nance missed his turn.  They didn't get out of the car and didn't correct him.  Assholes.  2 extra miles for the guy...

Off goes Nance

So far we are down one driver, down one runner, missed an exchange and gotten a runner lost.  At this time we are a little shaken but we were still looking at our pacing, expecting some corrections from the race director, and we had good legs.  What happen through the night would bring us to our knees.  There are no pictures but stay with me.

I picked up for Nance in the dark night and tore off down the country rides.  I can only give my account of running in the night but the general consensus was pretty similar.  It was very dark, very foggy, and some of the roads were narrow.  It was like running in a tunnel in the dark.  I do quite a bit of early morning running with a headlamp but my first 7 miles were tough.  I was trying to stay with this guy that was running really fast.  He was on a 12 person team and he was flying.  It was a mistake to try to hold on.  His team would go on to win the whole thing.  With some early misses, our supporting team decided that we were going to go to every exchange to try to keep track of the runner better They met me at the next exchange to give me a little boost and some drink.  Off I went.  It felt like I was running in jello.  For the distance it really hurt.  I was happy to get to MD in and hand off the baton.

It gets a little blurry now because I was sleep deprived and also dozing in and out of sleep but here are the remaining memories.  It may be a little out of order.

MD had about 13 miles and it hurt him. I don't know much about it but he was getting sick and throwing up. He had a combination of vertigo and India gut. MD is a tough competitor, always shows up on race day but after his leg, he was done. One more down.

J-Fo got lost but it wasn't his fault.  In one of the small towns, someone (probably drunk) pointed an arrow in the wrong direction.  J-Fo ran across the Potomac River a few times before Keith and I picked him up. 

We got pissed and said fuck the rules.  We will run with whatever runners we can, screw the order.  Who ever can will go.  If they can't keep the course open and well marked then we are on our own.

GS hammered out another run, finishing what he was expected to do.

I finished another leg and handed off to Nance, who had been throwing up.  MD and J-Fo were lying in the back of the van with the chills and looking green.

GS picked up J-Fo's next 1/2 leg.

J-Fo rallied after sunrise to pick up another leg and then the hand off was to go to me.  I was banged up, my knee was swollen and we were running on fumes.

We chatted about it for a while...MD was done, GS was done, I was banged up, Nance wanted to carry on, and J-Fo was struggling through the last half.  Our fearless drivers were ready to carry on.  We were not going to make it to DC.  We had over 60 miles or so to go.  We tapped out.  It actually hurts to say that. 

Here is the team that didn't make it.  We tried and we just had too much bad luck.

As we gathered around the van to get ready to roll back home the mood wasn't too bad.  We figured we would make it back for most of the OSU game.  We rehashed the ups and downs, grabbed some bad food and a few good beers and limped home. 

One of the more solid pieces of our team were our stellar drivers Keith and Rob.  They endured all night, never got us too lost, and always made sure we had food.   Of course we didn't dig on the beef jerkey and pringles until after the race.   I can't say enough good things about the job they did.  They kept us entertained, kept us in good music, made sure we had everything that we needed.  Now if they could only have done some running for us.

Our great support crew getting some much needed rest. 

Lessons Learned:
1) Everything has to go right on a Ultra Team

2) Predict your Marathon time for an Ultra Team, we would have had a better start time and not had the race course being broken down around us.

3) Take 2 vans...even if you can sleep in a moving vehicle the van stops about every 30 minutes at the exchange, people pile out, lights come on, lots of noise. Take 2 vans and drive the other runners ahead to a quite place an relax. Also, there is not enough room for all the people and gear

4) We nailed food I think...plenty of places to eat and PB&J in the van.

5) Don't bring too much water. They were giving away cases and you can always get that on the road.

6) Don't go too hard too early.  Remember that you are racing a long time.  Don't try to keep pace with those around you. 
7) Practice running with a headlamp

8) Carry a phone and the maps. I though only an idiot could get lost. We got lost a bunch.

9) Bring a team of people you get along with, this could have been a disaster with strangers.  There was never a argument or ill will despite all that went wrong.  That can only happen with friends.

10) Remember that no matter how many races you finish, no race is guaranteed.

Maybe it was better this way. If you don't fail once in a while, maybe you are not reaching far enough.

Hope to see you next year Mr. Ragnar.