At 3:00 a.m. the next day, Friday the 13th. I hopped into a big, white, 12-passenger van with said strangers and drove 1.5 hours to Hull where our epic journey of running 200-miles together began. we spoke on the phone before hand and I knew, with a a few prayers, that this crew would not murder me in my sleep. I had the added comfort of knowing if they did, that my two dogs would chew them apart, if they did.
There is no way to explain Ragnar and the bonds it creates. I will leave it to my 5-new comrades in arms to try to put to words the kinship that's formed by running 30+ hours throughout the day and night, rain and sun, only to cross the finish line triumphantly, together, as a team.
When you run a Ragnar relay, you become more than just a single individual runner. You become part of something much greater than yourself. You need to help the driver navigate, you need to help the navigator-navigate, you need to offer your teammates support whether it be in the form of a wet-wipe, beef jerky, a high-5, a cup of soup or a pillow to lie their tired head. For those 24-36 hours you become part of a community, something bigger than yourself. You become part of a team that is trying to conquer their demons for 200-miles all in the name of charity.
We all laughed together whether it was because Alicia couldn't find the gas cap to the van, Vince had a hard 3rd leg, Brian sent random cryptic text messages with 1 mile-to-go, I ate gravel and broke my new iphone, or #ohshit Kelsey was delirious in the middle of the night and thought Saturday felt like---being on MARS or possibly because Randi thought it was a good time to #speakwhale.
There was so much laughter in our van it was uncanny. When someone started to get punchy someone else would lighten up the situation, when someone wanted to drive into a parking lot---we made sure they knew that what they thought was a parking lot was in fact...a lake. #truestory When Dunkin' Donuts was out of a certain food that was being craved before leg 3 we found a local hot spot to fill the notion. Out team was awesome group of coffee loving, cookie eating, amaze-balls. #6strangersinavan
We all came from different backgrounds and drew from our strengths. Only a Ragnar Relay could draw together such a diverse group of extremely rugged endurance athletes from such a variety of professional backgrounds. I am so glad to say that Van 1 remains in contact weekly and we are still laughing together. Plans are in the works to have a racing reunion soon and to get another Ragnar in the books.
We've seen each other under incredible pressure and we helped each other succeed. We've seen one another in hardship. tireless battles, drawing from the strength within, to pure-silliness, to perseverance, god-awful-sweat, and true grit. It was raw and a real struggle at times. I almost got left behind in the port-a-loo #Where'sDiana? but we all kept our heads and when the end came near and our faith was tested---Vince saved us with beer, tie-died cookies, and huge magnets #itsthesimplethings.
There were many memories made, one-liners that only van 1 will ever understand, and bonds made that will hopefully last a life time. #doyouspeakwhale #wheresthegastank #draftbyguy #ohshitialmostcrushedmymuffins #3rdlegisthehardest #itfeelslikemars #ichallengeyou #smellmysneaker #copsonbikes #cookies #whatcolorisyourpee #magnetcleptos
I look forward to our racing reunion and to creating more Cookie Crushing memories with this amazing crew of Ragnarians.
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