Even though I am over three weeks out from running Ragnar Pennsylvania: I think I am still on a runner's high! Lots of "firsts" happened in PA: running from Lancaster to the Poconos, running with a team of Facebook "acquaintances", not being captain and running on a 12-person team. This year I wanted to run a a Ragnar Relay somewhere new. I know Lancaster, PA isn't very exotic but it was somewhat close so that I could drive there and not pay crazy airfare. I took a chance and posted on the Ragnar PA Facebook page that I was an experienced Ragnarian looking to join a team. Jen immediately messaged me and said she was trying to get a group together. PERFECT! She also told me more runners were needed so I immediately started recruiting and my friend Justin joined us. I figured it would be nice to know one person on the team! Team Dirty Soles was formed. The months leading up to the relay we all messaged each other on Facebook getting organized and trying to get to know each other a little bit better. Jen, Jeremy, Ashley, Justin, Adam and myself were in Van 1. I was runner 2 and would be running a total of 19.9 miles. Todd, Vaughn, Chris, Rich, Ruth and Jane were in Van 2. Justin and I headed to Lancaster right after work the Thursday before the race and checked in at our hotel where we finally got to meet everyone from Van 1. Except for Adam: he was driving from MN and would not be in town until 4am race morning. Yeah...you read that right! Honestly it was as if we had knew each other for years. Conversation was easy and we laughed the entire time. The five of us headed to dinner at the amazing Neptune Diner. Apparently they specialized in anything and everything meatloaf but I settled for a hearty breakfast: After fueling up we headed back to the hotel so we could decorate the van (another Ragnar "first" for me) and so that I could watch the Cavs game. The following morning we were up bright and early to make our 7:45am start time. Seeing that orange arch will never get old... Jeremy was our first runner but decided at the last minute he needed a Dunkin' Donuts run. He ran across the street and next thing you know he is back with a dozen doughnuts about 10-minutes before the start. Happy National Donut Day to us! Jeremy got on the road and my 6th Ragnar was underway! Jeremy's 1st leg was short so we hauled it to the exchange (might have gotten lost a little!) and I set out on my 1st leg. Hot, hilly and beautiful describes those 8.4 miles. But I enjoyed every minute of it and kept it at a 9-minute pace based on my marathon training plan. All six of us made it through our 1st leg with no problem enduring heat and hills and we made it to Exchange 6 where Van 2 would continue on with the slap bracelet. What's the first thing we did on our down time? Wawa stop for coffee and to use a real bathroom! Successfully caffeinated and relieved, we went in search of food and found the Victory Brewing Company thanks in part to Jeremy's freakishly awesome navigating skills. After lunch, we found a park to take a nap in for a couple hours. Going into this weekend, I wasn't sure if I would like the down time or not. I am just used to being constantly on-the-go. On Ultra teams you don't have time to stop at a restaurant: you pack your lunch and eat in the van or you have your teammates pick something up for you while your out running. And you certainly don't have the time to unroll a sleeping bag and nap in the grass. I have to admit the down time went by fast and it was nice to chill out and get to know my teammates a little better and spend some non-running time with them. After our power naps it was time to meet van 2 at Exchange 12 for the hand-off of the slap bracelet. My second leg was 5.5 miles and the elevation chart was a nice downhill. It was WRONG. It was mostly uphill except for the last 1/2 mile. What made it fun though was running through towns where kids were outside handing out water and lemonade and cheering us on. I kept it at a 9-minute pace and got a nice surprise when I saw my teammates forming a tunnel for me to run thru about a mile near the end. All of us completed our 2nd leg and around 10:00/11:00pm (things get fuzzy here!) we met up with Van 2 before heading off to go sleep. It was cold all of a sudden so I passed out in the van with Adam and Jeremy while Justin, Ashley and Jen slept in the tent. Around 3:00 we woke up so that Jeremy could take the slap bracelet one last time around 4:00am. Jeremy headed out and we headed to Exchange 26. They had a bonfire going for us and it felt so good! Jeremy came in and around 5:15am I headed out for my final leg 6 miles. And...it started to rain. I kept my pace the same for this leg as the others and even ran with a buddy (I forget her name!) and we chatted the entire time. The miles flew by and we even commented how the elevation chart was marked "very hard" but this leg was just the opposite. My buddy and I hugged when we got to Exchange 27 and Ragnar #6 was in the books for me! My van finished their legs (Jeremy ran an extra leg because Van 2 had an injured runner) and headed to Exchange 30 where we handed the slap bracelet off one last time to Van 2...and ate an insane breakfast of Mimosas, pancakes, eggs and coffee. After breakfast, we headed to the Poconos Mountain resort to wait for Van 2 and cross the finish line together. At this point, the down time seemed like it took forever. Hard to just sit around when technically you are done running, tired and hungry. But we passed the time by cleaning out the van, shopping, drinking beer and taking advantage of the recovery chairs... After about 3.5 hours, we saw that Chris was heading towards the finish and we got ready to greet him and run under the orange arch together and collected our well-deserved hardware. I forgot that I could pick up my Mudslinger medal since I ran Ragnar Richmond and PA in the same year. It was time for pizza and beer. We all exchanged running stories, talked about our kids, where we were from and what we do for a living. Rich and I talked a lot since we are both trying to "chase the Unicorn." It was funny to see everyone energized with adrenaline as we talked about what happened over the last 32-hours but then one-by-one everyone's eyes got a little more tired! It was time to head home.
Every time I run Ragnar, I learn a little bit more about myself and what I am capable of. This time around, while the hills were in-freaking-sane, I learned that it is so damn fun to run with strangers who have one common goal! Nine out of twelve of my teammates were new to Ragnar so for me, as a Ragnar Ambassador, it made me proud to hear how much fun everyone had and that they would do it again. I'll sign-off by saying...I'll see you next at Ragnar Appalachains-WV!
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