You may have heard of it--Ragnar's Wasatch Back Relay. Twelve team members, 187.8 miles from Logan to Park City, 36 legs, 3 legs each, about thirty hours. Thrity straight hours of running, friends, fun, sweat and most likely, tears. Back in November, my good friend Ben Ford and I decided that we were going to put together a team for the 2009 Wasatch Back. I will be the first to admit that I did not know what I was getting into. By January, we had collected $85 each from ten other people crazy enough to join our team. Since then, it's been a whirlwind of logistics, volunteers, training and team meetings. But after more than six months of planning, the race is upon us. In fact, it's in two days!! That's right folks, the Wasatch Back is this Friday and Saturday, June 19-20. And I'm pumped. This may be one of the coolest things I've ever done.
In case you're curious, I am runner 12. This means that I run leg 12, 24 and 36. That's right--the last leg. Leg 12 is the one I'm most nervous about. It's basically a 5k (3.1 miles) straight up. It's a 3% grade which will help me gain a mere 900 ft of elevation in those three miles. Can't wait. The other two should be easy enough. They are both about five miles on relatively flat ground. So that means I only run about 13 miles total. Not bad at all. Based on my very rough calculations, I will be running leg 12 at about 10:30 Friday night (our start time is 1:30 pm on Friday afternoon). That puts me running leg 24 at around 8 am on Saturday morning (hey mom, looks like I don't have to run in the middle of the night!), and running in for the victory at approximately 6 pm on Saturday. Wow, I have no idea how close those approximations are but you get the idea.
Basically, this weekend is going to be awesome. Whether or not I'll be able to stand on Sunday is debatable, but you can bet it will have been worth it. :) Wish us luck and stay tuned for the results of the race.
*Curious about the Wasatch Back, or some of the other runs Ragnar Relay puts on around the US? Check it out here.
3 comments:
Great to hear you're running the Wasatch back...very cool!
I totally tried to get a team together for the Ragnar last year, but no one wanted to pay for it! Have a blast and good luck!
please don't die. and GOOD LUCK! you are brave.
Post a Comment