Ragnar Wasatch Back 2010

What is it they say... the definition of insanity is repeating the same actions and expecting a different outcome. I guess somehow we fit this definition since we keep putting ourselves through the same torture over and over again and somehow manage to forget the pain associated with the event! This was Clark's 3rd year and my 2nd year participating in the 188 mile long relay race from Logan to Park City. Our team was "Faster than a speeding bullet".... appropriately named since we were part of Clark's company team (he works for an ammunition manufacturing company). It was fun to get to know some of the people Clark works with on a much more up close and personal level. You really get to know your group when you spend 28 hours in a suburban with them, all stinky and sweaty!

This photo is of all the runners in our car.... Amanda and Cory Covinton, Me and Clark, Tim Hein, and Allison. They were a great group, easy to get along with and we had a lot of fun together. Our van started around 6:00 pm Saturday, we each ran and finished up around 9:30pm. We then had a few hours to stop by and say HI to the BIG BOSS of Clark's company who lives just off the race course (of course we wanted to show our appreciation since the company sponsored our team!) then we luckily found a subway restaurant that was still open so we could at least eat a little something substantial to get us through our next legs. We headed to the next exchange at Echo reservoir to wait for our other van to finish up. We ended up having about an hour to lay out some sleeping bags on the grass at the waters edge and close our eyes until we got the text from our other van at about 2:30 am saying they were finishing up and we'd better get ready. So we loaded back up, sent our runner out for the exchange and we all somehow made it through our second legs. I was the last runner in our van, so I finished up the second leg running into Oakley... I felt right at home! We had a yummy warm breakfast right there at the Oakley Rodeo grounds. From there we were able to head up to our cabin where we could actually get out of the car, stretch our legs and lie down on an actual bed. Again, it was only for an hour before we had to load up again but it was nice! Finally we headed off for the final exchange and for each of us to take on our 3rd and final legs of the run. Clark was runner #10 which meant he was running "the RAGNAR"... the hardest leg of the entire run. Basically up and over Gardsman pass. It's a 1680 vertical feet climb over 4 miles... yikes. He totally kicked butt! I couldn't believe how great he did. He finished it in 50 minutes. Since I was runner 12, my team dropped me off in the parking lot of Park City Ski resort for the final exchange where I took off and headed for the finish line. They had to leave to go park the car, meet up with van 1 and be there waiting for me when I arrived at the Canyons Ski resort so we could all run across the finish line together as a team! I guess they barely got there with about 3 minutes to spare before I ran in. Good timing! I was SOOOO glad to see that finish line and it was so fun to have everyone from our entire team there waiting for me and run across together.

here are a few shots from the run:

Allison was the first runner from our van... she did great! She flew in from Arizona for the run, I guess it must have felt really cool for her... we were all dying of heat though! She was great to have on the team, very easy going and fun.

This is Amanda, she works with Clark. She ran next... what a trooper! She and her husband flew in from France the night before so not only was she battling jet lag, but she also has bursitis in her hip. She did AMAZING, esp considering the pain.

This is Cory, Amanda's husband, he and I were the only ones who didn't actually work for ATK, so when the others all started talking shop, we had our own conversations! He was pretty hard core, he's run this a bunch of times. He was our official "roadkill" keeper-tracker. A roadkill is when you pass another runner on your run. So this photo is of him marking his very first roadkill of the run. Here's our van by the end of the second day:

This is Tim, another one of Clark's c0-workers. He kept us on track! He was the responsible one of the group and made sure we got to where we needed to be on time! He was a great runner as well, it was fun to have him along!

This crazy dude wasn't on our team, but he was worth a photo. Team "backcountry.com" was crazy! Each one of their runners ran with something... some wore snowshoes, some had backpacks with ski's attached, all kinds of things, but this was the craziest! He ran 4 miles up snowbasin road with a kayak on his head. No kidding.

Here I am finally ready to run! The sun is going down on our first day and I'm still waiting for my first leg. I ran the second half of the way up old snowbasin road. It was a pretty crazy uphill run, but I had some good tunes on my ipod, the sun had just gone down and the run was actually about 1/2 mile shorter than I expected. All in all I felt great... at least for my first leg!

This is Clark powering it up the Ragnar. Seriously, he killed it! (and he looked pretty good doing it if I say so... and I do say so!)

Definitely, the BEST part about running the wasatch back (aside from the moment when you cross the finish line) is the AMAZING scenery. It never fails to amaze me how beautiful Utah is. Especially the backside of the wasatch mountains. The views were spectacular, the towns were quaint and beautiful and the weather really couldn't have been better. Even the little bit of wind was nice when it was giving you a tailwind.

It certainly is easy to say now that it's over how glad I am we did this run again. It's too soon to say if we're ready to sign up for it again... we've got to at least let the leg soreness go away. We couldn't have done it without such great people on our team... or without the awesome help of Dustin and Madalyne who kept our rugrats entertained at home! Thanks so much!