The mist and the fog surrounded me on the nameless bike path I found myself running on in the middle of the night; 2:44 am to be exact. Trees and shrubs hung over both sides of the path keeping me from seeing what could be lurking in the darkness. The ping ping of water dripping on to leaves and the occassional scuttle of some small creature in the bushes were the only sounds I heard; that is, until the inevitable heavy breathing and thump thump of running feet came up behind me.
Such was leg 22 of Ragnar 2011.
“You’re doing what? That’s just crazy, ” was often the reaction I and my fellow Ragnar teammates received when we told our friends and families that we were running a 197.3 mile relay from Madison, Wisconsin to Chicago, Illinois. You read correctly. One hundred ninety seven point three miles. Nine women, three men, two vans, and twenty-four legs running for over thirty three hours.
I was in Van Two. Three girls, three guys, one very goofy team. The following are some of the highlights and quotes.
“I need a woman as a navigator. A soft voice.” –Keith, the navigator was confusing Will, the driver.
“I may be gay but that guy has some nice legs.”–That would be me admiring the very toned legs of a male runner that walked by us.
“I think I’m going to slap my own ass out of the starting coral.” Dina, before her first leg. She did. It was impressive.
“Angie! Angie! Where are you?”–Joel after his second, and somewhat delirious and grumpy leg 2, searching for me for the bracelet handoff. I admittedly was a little behind in getting to the transfer point.
“You know, by the time the bracelet gets to me, there will be eleven other people’s wrist sweat on it.”–Keith, runner number twelve.
“Well somebody had to put trippin’ n’ slippin’ into actual practice.” –Me again after falling and twisting my ankle cheering on Sara. Coincidentally, this happens right after I say, “so far so good on the ankle. I usually twist it just when I’m nearing the completion of a run or a hike.”
“I’m not funny enough to make it into the quote book”. Sara N. For the record, she was hilarious….and full of energy. Even after her last leg. Frankly, I think she was a little runner crazy at that point.
