So I've been meaning to write down the details of the race, and things have just been too busy! But it was my first time doing the Wasatch Back, and it was SO much fun!! I wish I had more pictures, but you will just have to use your imagination to fill in the holes. For those who aren't familiar with the race, it's a 188 mile relay from Logan to Park City, and you do it with a team of 12 people. We had an all women's team, and actually did pretty well, considering many of us were first timers! Six of us were in van 1, so we started right up in Logan at 1pm on a Friday. Here is a picture of Heather, who started us out. She was an awesome motivation for the rest of us! (Green tank top, black shorts with a stripe)
During each run, our van would go support each runner with water, supplements, a cool towel, etc. And then when they had about a mile left of their leg, we would head to the next exchange, where the next runner would get ready to switch. When our runner came in, they would give the slap bracelet to the next girl, and the running would keep going! My legs were not too bad, but because of our start time, our whole van had to run our first and last legs in the heat of the afternoon! That was the hard part. We were all piled in the good ol' Chaves van, which held up like a champ. (Except for some minor overheating going up Ragnar that required us to turn on the heat in 96 degree weather, but hey, we made it home without heatstroke.) Here's a picture of all the girls in van 1 (L to R: Kristi, Kaitlin, me, Jenica, Heather, Amy). The girls in van 2 were Megan, Carly, Lindsay, Kelsie, Shante, and Janie.
(pictured later)
My cute husband wanted to come up and see one of my legs, so he came up in the middle of the night! What a cutie!! He loves me. We were up in Morgan, UT for my night run, and it started about 1:30am, and was 4.2 miles. Rob was so cute, he put on the required reflective vest, got the flag out, and would bring me water about every half a mile. I love him so much! After our van's night runs were finished, about 4am, we drove to North Summit high school and slept on the gym floor for a few hours. It was nice to get some real rest, even if only 2-3 hours. In the morning, we all tried to eat a good breakfast, and get ready for our last legs. Amy had a killer last leg, and that girl is a machine! She did a freaking hard 8-point somethin uphill run for her last one! And she never even slowed down. Seriously, she's my idol. When we all finished our own last leg, it was like a little personal victory. It felt so great to be done! After our van finished, we went and followed our van 2 runners, and supported them as well. It was so fun to finally get to see them a little bit, since we'd been separate the whole time. They had some killer last legs, and I have to give some serious props to Heather, who stepped it up when one of our girls was injured, and ran another 5 mile uphill leg! I think she almost did a total of a marathon. What a woman. And Lindsay, who did RAGNAR. Wow. That mountain is a beast. It climbs like 4.5 miles from 7200 feet to 9800 feet, and it is way intense. She rocked it. Also, another idol. Here is a picture of all of us at the finish line. (L to R: Carly, me, Kelsie, Amy, Heather, Lindsay, Megan, Jenica, Kaitlin, Kristi) I just realized two of our girls aren't in this picture. Shante and Janie, but they were also there! Not sure why they weren't in the pic. Anyway, I had such a good time with these ladies, and it was such a good experience! I am a total Ragnar convert. The following day and a half of dehydration, exhaustion, and malnutrition were not my husband's favorite, but I think he'd let me do it again, even so. Anyone looking for a fun challenge??
