The Ragnar Relay, Revisited

You may recall my recent claim to running craziness as I prepared, mentally and physically, for a 187-mile relay from Blaine to Langley, Washington on Whidbey Island. If you don’t recall, see my post from April here. This last weekend I was one member of a team of 12, The PACC-Rats, to run the hilly, curvy and sweltering pavement of Northwest Washington in the Northwest Passage Ragnar Relay.

We ate, we laughed, we slept an hour or so, we cheered, we sang, we danced and we ran and we ran and we ran. Most importantly, we survived. I can confidently say that this was one of the most unique ways to experience the breathtaking views of our region, not to mention, rewarding.

The relay started in Blane literally overlooking the Peace Arch and Canadian boarder crossing. The ability to sidestep into a neighboring country was a teasing attraction. But there was no time for that, as soon as our start signal sounded and our first runner took off, 11 of us (and one super-supportive driver and cheerleader) ran back to our vans and took off for transition number two. A system we memorized and that became second nature – get in the car, drive a little, climb out of the car, cheer, holler, dance and shout our runner on, get back in the car drive a little further and repeat. We did this over and over and over.

Our relay ran us through the quaint beach town of Birch Bay along the edges of Ferndale and into   Bellingham. We took the night tour, with our path lit by the light of a nearly full and stunning moon, through Mount Vernon and the vast fields of La Conner. Our team was challenged with pitch black trail runs through Skagit County and blessed with the glow of sunrise runs across Deception Pass. We found uncontrollable amounts of delirious energy as we raced (on very little sleep) out of Deception Pass State Park into Oak Harbor and through the an eerie thick fog along the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The team concluded our 24 hours of constant running into a heat-packed Coupeville and literally down hill (thank goodness) into the village by the sea that is Langley.

Our team was primarily composed of employees of PACCAR a company in Bellevue that manufactures premium commercial vehicles sold around the world under the Kenworth, Peterbilt and DAF nameplates. And while myself, and a few others where of non-truck-loving-blood, the teamwork and camaraderie  that radiated through each one of us was palpable. I am so proud to have been part of such a strong and supportive team. We’re already plotting our next adventure and I wouldn’t rather do it with any other team. The PACC-Rats came in 126th out of 209 teams over all and fifth in our category.

I’ve included a small gallery of pictures from our weekend as we prepared, executed and celebrated our accomplishment that took us in to realms of discomfort, exhaustion, fear and, above all else, determination that has attracted us to want to go through this, or something like it, again. I’ll add a few more later when I get them.

Tags: Running, Sports, Thursday