What a wild wild time, seriously it was amazing and challenging and terrible and awesome all at the same time....and I can't wait to do another one (with Big Daddy this time)!
Here goes, and this is going to be looong.
We left around 2:30pm to get up to the race check in. After some dinner we got our team checked in, picked up our shirts, and headed over to the safety briefing. There was some time in between safety sessions so we popped over to the Brooks Running tent/boat/truck thing and got some rad swag from them (really really wanted that RUN HAPPY Island tshirt, but scored some sunglasses instead - didn't quite need those ;) ). After our safety briefing we got out of there as fast as we could, it was starting to mist and get windy and we were cold. Off to the hotel to get some (hopefully) sleep!
We arrived at the Days Inn in Cumberland, MD (if you ever get the chance to stay there, DON'T). We start walking to our room down what suspiciously feels like the smoking hallway and low and behold we have SMOKING rooms....seriously??? Well, turns out the gal who booked the rooms (who was not running due to family commitments) booked smoking rooms inadvertently. OOPS. They stunk, BAD. The wallpaper was peeling, everything was outdated and just ick. The wall mounted bottle opener was a delightful touch though. We all settled in to our beds and tried to sleep as best we could, most of us tossed and turned (the smoke smell was EVERYWHERE) and got some sleep but not as much as we wanted. That 3am wake up call came MIGHTY early and we all got dressed and headed out to Sheetz for MUCH needed coffee. As we walked in the guy standing right inside the door took one look at us and said "been partying too late huh girls?"....apparently we looked that rough and smelled that much like a bar, nope dude we are just getting this crazy train started.
3am is WAY too early.
Off to the start we go and I got the driving shift, I kind of drive like Mario Andretti at times so we kind of came skidding in to the parking spot Tokyo Drift style (not really but at 4am that sounded totally plausible). We all got out and got our first runner ready to rock. Reflective vest CHECK, headlamp CHECK, blinkie light CHECK, knuckle light CHECK, she was ready to go. We had our team shirts on so we snagged another runner to take a pic of us at the start.
MRTT Mounds of Joy - Van 1 at the start
The very glowy start line
We got our runner to the start and waited for the wave to go off. It was dark and cold but the energy was amazing, it was like Christmas morning for runners. And they were off, and we were off to find the exchange for runner 2 who was terrified of getting lost in the dark (and I seriously do not blame her!). It was a bit tricky to find because they hadn't manned it yet so it was on the pitch black other side of the parking lot. We found it after christening some not yet opened port-a-potties (and some guy who yelled "I'm going to LIGHT IT UP in there!", thanks guy, we didn't need to know all that....what he really meant was with his headlamp....sure ya did dude). And then we all stood and waited for our first runner to come in. It was no easy feat to figure out which was yours, they didn't have someone calling bib numbers in to the exchange point yet so we just had to hope we could figure it out with the headlamps blinding all of us. We got her in (after I claimed I could feel her presence) and got the exchange made and runner 2 was off....holy crap I was up next.
Leg 2 was not van supported (which meant the vans could not drive along the route) so we hustled over to my exchange. My delightful anxiety started kicking in....anxious mostly about the unknown of this damn mountain.
On our way to the exchange for leg 3
So I get all ready to go, it was cold so I had to change up my clothing plan (fortunately we knew that early enough I did it in the hotel before we left), filled up my CamelBak (I am really not a fan of belts and only carry a handheld on shorter distances), and put my safety gear on. You had to wear safety gear during the hours of 6:30pm-7:30am. I watched and watched the time and as soon as it rolled over to 7:30am I whipped that stuff off so fast it would make your head spin.
Pre-exchange for my first leg!
So here comes our runner and I am getting ready to go. I think my auto pilot took over and I just went, music in, and foot turnover moving. My van took off past me, honking and screaming all the way! I settled in to the pace I wanted to do hills at (10mm to save a little energy) after calming down my anxiety pace of 8:35mm. Not so bad to start, a little hilly but nothing terrible. Then we started going up, and up, and up, and up the mountain road from hell. We weren't even 2 miles in and I saw a guy walking already, then I passed him (and of course guys HATE it when girls pass them) and he started running again, passed me, but couldn't maintain then walked again. I steady chugged up that mountain road at my 10mm pace.
My van caught a pic of me chugging up and up and up
At some point I thought to myself this road has go to flatten out at some point, and I finally saw it....the even flat part at the top, angels sung. It was glorious, I picked up my pace to make up for my 3 miles at 10 minutes and stretched out my legs. Then we started going up again and it was time to turn left....oh dear GOD what was THAT in front of us. My voice volume is WAY up when I run so when I turned the corner and yelled "WHAT THE F*CK IS THAT" wayyyyyyy too loud I hope I didn't scare too many creatures, small children, or other runners.
THAT was what was in front of us....what I now lovingly refer to as Mount Fuqme (because that is what you say A LOT on the way up)
Ohhhh, so this was the You've Got To Be Kidding Me they were talking about. Yeahhhh, it sucked, not gonna lie. I walked parts, but I felt much better when I realized later on that a guy that had been walking next to me up Mount Fuqme was an Ultra team guy (those crazies run double the distance with a team of 6 vs 12). I only walked what I absolutely had to, but I still felt slightly defeated by that damn mountain. Finally up to the top and getting to go down some I picked up my pace again to about 9mm to make up for my walking. At this point it was mental, keep your leg turnover going and control of your body on the downhill portions, almost there! I passed people, encouraged and got encouraged along the way, and prayed the end was soon!! It's amazing how you can meet Jesus out on a country trail running your behind off, praying you make it up the hill.
Finally I saw that glorious ONE MILE TO GO sign, and thought to myself, anyone can run a mile!!! And of course, the last few hundred yards were up hill.....why stop going up the friggin' mountain now? As I came in to the exchange area there were bunches of vans and some random dudes started yelling so of course I went a little faster!!! I found my exchange buddy, slapped on that bracelet, and got my medal (aptly named Capitol Punishment). Whew, I did it, the hardest leg of the race and my first of three legs DONE!
Right after I finished and put that rad medal on!
Showing that beautiful thing off!
Checking off my first leg!
Back in the van and on to the next exchange!!! On the way we cheered for our runner doing a very hilly 5ish miles through what seems to be named Warrior Mountain - she was a warrior so we'll take it. We got our next runner ready to go and waited at the exchange, it was starting to rain pretty steadily at this point. Exchange made and on to the next which was a make your own so we had no idea what to expect. We got back in the van and started to drive and WOAH....it was muddy and turny and slippery and holy moly. The road wasn't very wide and there were of course runners along the side, scary stuff but we took it slow and everyone made it out safe! We found a spot to park safely (we did see a van sticking out in the road making it not too easy to get by) and figured it was close enough. And not too far behind was our runner! Exchange made, and runner #6 was out on her course!!! On to the big exchange and time for van #2 to get rockin'!! We found our second vanmates and got ready to watch for our runner. They were calling out numbers but somehow missed ours so it took a few minutes to get them hooked up. Runner #7 got going and we were off for a few hours!!! Time for RAGNAR gear shopping, food, and a SHOWER! I picked up a sweet trucker hat and a sticker for our beer fridge (although I easily could have bought EVERYTHING in there--can you say RAGNAR gear for Christmas??) and we headed out toward the high school we were stopping at for a few hours in search of food.
We found a McDonald's and we all scarfed down some tasty wraps (PS, friendliest McD's manager ever, Brandy in Clear Spring, MD was awesome) and headed for the high school. It was just raining and windy and icky at this point so we all bolted in to the school as fast as we could while trying to keep our stuff dry (it was inevitably wet but we tried!). They wouldn't let us in the gym until after the students were dismissed so we all looked crazy standing there with our pillows, towels, etc. waiting to get in. I did hear one high school girl say "why are all of these homeless people in the school" and heard one awesomely snarky runner reply back "yeah, homeless people wear NorthFace jackets and $150 Brooks running shoes".
They finally let us in and I paid my $1 for the shower (not sure how they tracked that but whatever) and got in line before it got nutty. There were 3 single shower stalls and a group shower situation, I opted out of the prison shower and waited a few minutes extra to not have to worry about dropping the soap. After the shower we all tried to rest, but well we are women, we talked instead. There was lots of passing around of the roller (love the marshmallow one - and I need one, someone please buy me one The Stick) and I busted out my Tiger Balm. That stuff was KEY to overcoming the knots in my calves from Mount Fuqme.
At "no idea what time it is but we need to get moving" we got up and got our next runner (runner #1) ready to run. This meant we packed all our sleepy stuff back up in the van...in the rain...and cold...and wind. Ew. We schlepped back in to the high school to wait for runner #12 to come in. It was muddy at the exchange, it was windy, it was cold, it was raining (did I mention how much the weather SUCKED yet?) but we found our runner and got #1 back out there!!! We drove off to the next exchange watching for her but never did see her.
We pulled in to the next exchange and runner #2 was worried about getting lost again, I don't blame her, it was dark and through a country town. The rain seemed to have slowed down, awesome. Got the exchange done and I was up next so I got my gear ready to go. While on the drive (through the course) to the exchange we noticed a particular intersection had several runners turning the wrong way so we flipped around and sat there re-directing runners (and especially knowing our runner was terrified of losing her way). We re-directed about 10-12 before our runner came through, and good thing we sat there because we re-directed the girl in front of her and she was about to follow! So at this point we only had about a half mile to the exchange and my anxiety monster showed back up. I just wanted to get there and get out and stretch a few minutes because my quads were tight. When we finally navigated through the parking area our runner was just around the corner...bummer. So off I went and the course was hard to find so I managed to step right in a giant mucky grassy puddle. It was POURING rain through my whole leg but I managed to keep my overall pace around 9:30mm so I was pretty happy. BUUUUTT the whole damn 4.8 miles was UP HILL. Seriously, we didn't have enough pain earlier in the day?? Fortunately it was all solid pavement and easy to follow. But I chugged and chugged and had 9 kills (kills are runners you pass, we weren't keeping track on our van but I had so many it was hard not to count)....well 10 if you count the tiny unfortunate frog that darted right under my shoe and got squished. Poor froggy. It was dark, about 10pm and there I was running about 5 miles...in the rain. I thought to myself how totally nuts and totally awesome it was all at the same time. So, finally I see that one mile to go sign (they are truly glorious) and that was the LONGEST mile I have ever run in my life. I found my runner and told her I was coming in hot (I may have been loopy) and slapped that bracelet on and off she went. We walked over to the van and got in and took off.
We stopped briefly at a convenience store for some clothes changing so I took that time to call my mom who had been quite worried about me running in the dark, rain, and country roads. She was quite happy to hear I added extra blinkie lights and knuckle lights to my get up and was safe and sound.
On to the next exchange to get our runner! It was pissing rain (as my awesome friend put it) and we were on some seriously dark country roads with no shoulder. Through farms and cornfields we drove and she ran. We found the exchange and got runner #5 going (she had found a buddy to run with which was totally awesome). As soon as we got in the van runner #4 told us all about the cows mooing at her along the way ("you don't know how motivational a cow can be") and the corn fields....creepya$$ cornfields. She apparently told every runner going by her or she was going by "we are running next to f&cking corn!!", that will live in infamy. This was a longer leg for runner #5 so we found a place to park and quietly cheer her on (and along the route while driving as well). Then we headed for the exchange to get runner #6 ready to rock. We threw runner #5 in the van and headed for the big exchange to get van #2 started. This exchange was a mad house. It was a creamery so there was food, milkshakes, ice cream, etc. and lots of people lingering but not a lot of parking spaces. I was driving so I got pulled in and parked and we went off to find our van #2 runner. Exchange done and our runner safely back in the van we made the decision to drive on to the next big exchange and get some sleep in the van (there was no other choice....it was pouring rain).
After a 37 mile drive in the rain through the windy country roads nightmares are made of we finally made it to the exchange and parked. I had driven so I curled up on the front seat with my pillow and blanket and promptly passed out. I think I slept for about 4ish hours because I actually woke up feeling ok. After a visit to the bathrooms we were all up and slowly starting to get food, and ready to run again...our final legs!!! After trying to figure out the timing due to leg #23 being cancelled due to unsafe conditions we got our runner out and ready to go. We all headed over to the exchange and waited, and here she came. Our runner started out the wrong way but we quickly turned her around and got her going. And we were headed for the next exchange (seeing a pattern yet?? Hahahhaaha)!
While we were waiting for runner #1 to come in a guy came in yelling for his guy. Apparently he had texted him letting him know how far out he was but the guy wasn't there. His name was Mark and we all ended up yelling for Mark...I was super snarky by this point and I am pretty sure I ended up saying things like "Mark!!! You had ONE JOB!!". Mark showed up and off he went to lots of jeers from the standing crowd. And here came our runner with a huge smile on her face glad to be done! Off runner #2 went and off we went to my final exchange! I got ready to go and headed to the port-a-potties and then back to the van to get geared up. It had stopped raining by this point but I still opted for my jacket to avoid the wind. Here she came in and she was STOKED....she literally FLEW in to the exchange and slapped that thing right on. And off I went.
MeeMaw flying in to slap the exchange bracelet on!
This was actually relatively flat and my shortest distance at just 3.2 miles (hey it's just a 5k!!) so I decided to bust out some speed and see what I could come up with. Well the damn intersections (and another effing hill) thwarted me, not a horrible pace but nothing I would be super proud to post. Whew, and I was DONE!!!!! We still had 3 more runners to go though so off to another exchange! This one was in a delightful parking lot of a strip mall, and we are pretty sure the ONLY strip mall in AMERICA with no Starbuck's.
Exchange done and our second to last runner was off!!! We hustled to the exchange since it was less than 4 miles. Swapped that bracelet and our final runner was on her way!! She had a hard 8.6 miles ahead of her so we found places to cheer her on as often as we could (and of course every other RAGNAR runner we saw along the way)! She requested hot chocolate at the exchange so we wandered off to find a Starbuck's. Someone, no idea who, bought me a Pumpkin Spice Latte for my nasty 2am drive and I said words I will never ever say again when she asked me what kind of milk "whole milk please, I need the calories", and yes everyone turned around in that Starbuck's and looked at me like I was nuts.
Holy crap I look exhausted.
Our last runner was a ROCKSTAR and came in to that exchange with a big smile on her face!!! Van 1 was DONE!!!!! We gathered our runners and went to look for an IHOP.
Van 1-DONE!!!!
We found an IHOP in downtown DC close-ish to the finish line and went in the bathroom straight up homeless style and used the Shower Pill wipes we had to smell less gross. We finally sat down to some food and ordered as fast as we could...the service was WAYYY less than stellar so it took longer than it should but oh well, we got food. Two of our runner stopped in a store on the way to the finish (it was getting damn cold) to pick up a fleece (and we got to snag this cute selfie of runners 2, 3 & 4).
Runners 2, 3 & 4
Time to head to the finish line!! We got a little lost getting there but made it (and saw this cool sign along the way).
Four score and 200 miles ago....
The rest of our team showed up (aka van #2) and we waited for our runner to go across the finish line!! What a glorious sight to see when she came across the bridge!!! We all headed across to the finish!!!
MRTT Mounds of Joy are all RAGNARIANS now!!
Kind of bittersweet though when we went to the medal tent to learn they had run out of medals....SERIOUSLY?????? Some story about held up in customs, yadayadayada...we have no medal pics. They gave us finisher glasses and decals and I headed for the BEER.
I'm not a fan of Sierra Nevada but a few celebratory sips were in order and then we left, it was COLD and WINDY and starting to rain AGAIN.
So that's it, we headed home to get de-funked and recover from one cRaZy race. Seriously, I can't wait to do this again....it was awesome. Big Daddy will for sure be with me for the next one, he would have LOVED it.
A HUGE thanks to my awesome team for being awesome, FaVe Mom for taking care of the three tiny princesses so Big Daddy could get some work done, my Mom for being worried about me but still cheering me on, my Dad for cheering me on, my Aunt for encouraging texts, and all my friends for thinking how super nuts that race was (it was!).
And thanks MRTT (Moms Run This Town) for creating a fabulous group of running women!!!
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