Ragnar Relay

Our Team Design. The design is in the shape of the Ragnar symbol, but
personalized with our team initials - SN for Serenity Now. All of our
names, in the order in which we run, circle the design. Cool, eh?

What was once an abstract idea more than six months ago, will quickly become a reality in 17 days. The Madison-Chicago Ragnar Relay fires up on June 12th. What is this all about? Simply put, it's 2 vans, 12 runners and nearly 200 miles of non-stop running. The Ragnar Relay is held all across the country, and our turn is up. This year there are 562 teams, most comprised of 12 runners, though there's a handful of "ultra" teams that only have 6 runners covering the same distance. Quick math reveals that there will be over 6,000 runners relaying from Madison to Chicago. More specifically, Runner 1 will toe the start line beside beautiful Lake Mendota near the State capital. while Runner 12 (that's Joe!) will cross the finish line at Montrose Beach along Chicago's Lake Michigan shoreline. 

As noted above, most teams will have 2 vans with 6 runners in each van. Van 1 carries Runners 1-6, Van 2 carries Runners 7-12, and each van, luckily for us, has a separate driver who is not running. Van 1 will begin the race in Madison at 8:00a.m., tag teaming the mileage until Runner 6 lands at an exchange point in Lake Mills, where my van, Van 2 will take over. Runner 6 will snap his slapband onto Runner 7, who will continue heading east. Each van will have a 6-7 hour period of downtime while the runners of the other van run. This time in theory can be used to sleep, eat and stretch, but I hear there is very little sleep! 

Each runner has three designated legs to run of pre-established distances dictated by the Ragnar officials. The route we run is also established and has markings, so you know where to go. Some of it is on residential streets, some of it is on bike paths, and some may briefly be on the shoulders of busy roads. There are rules for night running related to having a headlamp and reflective gear. 

When signing on for this event, I wanted to challenge myself by choosing a runner designation that would add up to more than 15 miles (the furthest I've ever run) and that would have me running in the middle of the night. I got both. I will be Runner 11. My total mileage will be 16.6 miles (each of my legs = 5+ miles) and my second and longest leg (5.9 miles) will occur somewhere around 2a.m.! Joe is the last to run as Runner 12. He was asked to be this runner as he is our fastest team member, and may make up some time for us at the end. Joe's challenge will be running the final leg, 7.5 miles, on tired legs with virtually no sleep, to the finish line. Right before the finish line, the entire team gets out and runs in with Runner 12, but for Team Serenity Now, it may look like we're chasing Joe since no one can move that swiftly! Joe's mileage will total 17.2.

The Ragnar is run with friends and/or with strangers. In our case, we know a few people quite well, and the rest we will know extremely well after 36 hours of Ragnaring together. My friend's Bobbi & Dan initiated our team. The majority of our team is comprised of their neighbors or co-workers. Since Dan & Bobbi both work for Waukesha County, I either knew or am getting to know those co-workers. Two people are my recommendations - Jaime, a co-worker/friend and Rosanna, who has had this event on her bucket list for many years. Rosanna was a late addition, filling in for an injured teammate, so she will not be in my van, but it will still be a shared experience. 

A Ragnar quote: "The hardest fun you'll ever love."