Ragnar - Del Sol (Ann)

(February 22-23, 2012) For those of you who have not had the Ragnar experience it is definitely a one of a kind. The race consists of 12 people (6 if you are an ultra team), 2 van, 36 hours and 200 miles from start to finish. You eat, sleep and run all from the van so after 36 hours you know everyone pretty intimately and are bonded for life. The Del Sol Ragnar starts in Wickenburg Arizona and finishes in Tempe Arizona at Tempe Town Lake. This is the second year I have done this race and it was by far the best but did not start out that way. Originally there were 12 of us who were ready to go for the race but as race day got closer our numbers dropped considerably to the point that we were down to 5. I had convinced myself that we could do the race ultra with 5 of us over 200 miles but the other 4 were not as delusional as I was. Two days before race day we were able to hook up with a group of people who also were having the same struggles as we were. They were also down half a team so we combined. We all met up in Wickenburg early Friday morning for our 645am start time and we were off for our 200 mile trek. One right after another we each took our turns at our legs. As runner 5 this year by the time it got to me we were well into the heat of the day. I was excited to have the sun and the warmth as opposed to the cold and the wind from the previous year. Out I went for the first of my three legs (7 miles). It was a beautiful day and a wonderful first run. One by one we took our turns, all the while cheering on the others from our van which consisted of 5 women in their 30’s and our Mascot 24 year old Max. Let two (8.5 miles) came at about midnight. There is something amazing about running through the pitch dark desert on the back roads in the middle of the night. I was running from the outskirts of Sun City through the desert to Anthem. The following morning at 9am it was my turn for my final and best leg. Up and down the hills from Cave Creek made for a great last 7 miles with a pace of a 9 min mile which isn’t bad after no sleep and 16.5 previous miles. Our team finished up the race in the early afternoon on the Ragnar High. Gotta love that race!!! Now we are all geared up to do it again in Las Vegas in November!