This is such a long post, I’m so sorry. Get some wine before you start reading.
So. The run-up to Ragnar Napa Valley was ‘dramatic’. We lost runners (all for important reasons), gained last-minute runners and switched leg-order around pretty much solidly for the final week. It was sometimes stressful for everyone but I was always pretty wowed by how the team pulled together to help out. All teams will be ‘tested’ during the race. Our team was thoroughly tested before we even got to the start-line and we rose to the challenge like champions. I knew we’d crush the race!
Our team consisted of: Me, Rich (the Husband), Sabrina (aka Bean), Amanda and her husband Matt, Jess, Jen L, BT, Jen H, Jim and the super-brave Janet who joined our team on Monday, stepping in to fill a gap. We were also joined by the lady known as Milfrunner who would drive for Van 1.
My race weekend kicked off on Thursday afternoon when Bean arrived. We spent the afternoon fueling with cake and making rice-cakes and giant tubs of pasta for the van. Our family’s race preparation was complicated by having to sort out childcare for the Dude….so on Thursday night, we had a full house as the first of his baby-sitters stayed over as well to take him to school in the morning. We have awesome friends, I am so grateful.
Bean, Rich and I left the house at 7am and got to Golden Gate Park at about 8-ish. The starting area was absolutely heaving. Vans lined the road, the music was pumping and everyone looked SO fit. I’m always intimidated by other runners before a race and this was no exception. I finally met Paulette after a couple of years of Twitter/Blog following, which was fab! We met up with the rest of Van 1 – Amanda, Matt and Milfrunner – and got checked in, safety-briefed, bibbed up and ready to run. We had a heart-stopping moment when we lost the van keys…but we found them again :) We decorated our van and before we knew it, the countdown was on. Amanda, our first runner, was up.
Van 1
Rich, me, Sabrina, Matt, Milfrunner, Amanda
Fighting Talk!
Amanda at the off…hidden from sight
Each team is supposed to have 12 runners who each run three legs. We had 10 and 2/3 runners. Van 1 had 5 runners and thus needed to cover the three extra legs between them. Van 2 had 5 and 2/3 runners – Jen H would miss her first leg. Van 2’s legs were longer and tougher than ours so we covered that first leg too. So badass.
Amanda ran two consecutive legs – our missing runner’s first leg and her own. This was about 8.5 tough miles from the park up the sandy, trail-y Coastal Trail and over Golden Gate Bridge. We stopped several times to cheer her on and also for Richard to ‘comfort’ a grumpy old rich lady who complained vociferously about not being able to get her car out of her driveway even though we suspect she didn’t actually want to. Some of her complaints became our Van Mottos and got yelled out on a regular basis for the next 36 hours.
We also selflessly cheered on other runners. Many were grumpy and didn’t respond. Many were lovely – our favorites were Butt-Cheek girl who was running in the tiniest shorts ever which showed most of her perfect, smooth, toned buttocks and Smiley Guy who was lovely. We saw Smiley Guy several times and chatted at exchanges. He wasn’t ugly.
Smiley Guy
Photo Credit: Milfrunner
Amanda chasing down the nicest bottom in California
I have to mention Milfrunner here. This lady had a total hip replacement a few months ago so can’t run at the moment, but selflessly came to drive our van and be part of the race. She is also the best race cheerer in the entire world; how her voice didn’t give out, I will never know.
Milfrunner ticked off every leg she drove!
Amanda handed over to Bean who hurtled downhill like a skier. Matt sprinted off for his leg (he was fast), Rich manfully took on the big hill and then it was my turn.
Bean about to run
Three bloggers got together and this was the only photo we got.
Paulette (in white), Amanda (with the face) and me (hidden behind the girl in yellow)
Photo: Paulette’s friend
Would any dehydrated, tired runners like to give blood at an exchange?
Leg 1
My first leg was 4.2 miles long and wound through the fancy Marin towns of Larkspur and Corte Madera. It was flipping hot already and I bust an absolute gut on this leg. I ran so hard but kept getting thwarted by stoplights – I must have stopped 6 times. For some reason I didn’t stop my watch at stoplights so my overall pace was 9.44 which broke my heart as I think I was running 8.40s at least. I dodged one absent-minded driver and I got lunged at by the only non-smiley Golden Retriever I’ve ever met. I passed four people, which felt AWESOME and flew into the exchange to find my entire team waiting. Being the last runner in our van meant that both vans were at the end of each of my legs and I really loved seeing everyone.
High-fiving the Husband
Photo Credit: Jess
Bean took on the next leg – the extra Van 2 leg we were covering – and ran solid miles in the heat! And then we were off duty for a few hours. We drove to Petaluma, where we’d start running again. We ate a lot of food, rolled our legs, rested a bit and then, as it got dark, we prepared to run again. Petaluma is an agricultural town and it STINKS!
Amanda’s face shows quite how badly Petaluma smells of cow poo.
Leg 2
My second leg wasn’t officially mine – it was Runner 1’s leg that I was covering. It was 6.5 miles at 8.30pm in the darkness. I’d not enjoyed my night leg in Colorado so was a little apprehensive but absolutely LOVED this run. There were plenty of people around and a good stretch of it was in town so there was some lighting. Once we got out into the rural areas, it got much darker but it was fine. I charged along like an absolute steam train, I felt awesome from start to finish. I passed 6 runners and each one was like a badge of honour. I definitely got into the ‘roadkill’ spirit in this relay but was sure to cheer on everyone I passed! I felt like I was flying on this leg so was disappointed at an overall pace of 9.16 but never mind, it was fab.
Night Running. Not me.
Photo Credit: Milfrunner
Van 1 worked its way steadily through its runners. Everyone ran their legs off, there was such a good atmosphere in the van. Matt picked off 14 runners! In 3 miles! How does anyone do this? When Rich was running his hour-long leg, we dashed off to In-n-Out so he could have a burger and fries when he finished. We found him about 2 miles before the end and he requested a diet coke. I grabbed one for him and he finished his leg drinking coke! Dude. Earlier in the day, he was rechristened ‘IronBalls’ and something else totally unsuitable for a family website.
Safety Officer Matt! No violations here.
Amanda left it all on the road
Bean lit up like a Christmas tree
My official night leg started at 1.30 am. However I’d already run one night leg and was having trouble getting excited for my second. I was tired, it was cold and a little drizzly, I just wanted to stay in the van and then go to sleep. But it was my turn. Rich came thundering into the exchange, slapped the bracket on my wrist and I was off again.
Leg 3
My legs felt surprisingly decent and as soon as I started running, I was psyched. Once again, I LOVED this leg – 6 miles around Santa Rosa. Once again, there were enough people out there and enough street-light action to make me feel safe so I just ran my heart out. I passed TWELVE people on this leg. I’d spot the red flashing light of the runner in front of me and each time, I felt myself focus on them and start to reel them in. It was honestly pretty awesome. I’m not usually this competitive and feisty, so it was pretty fun. My favourite ‘rabbit’ was a girl running in a bride costume. I chased that girl down for over a mile – it was so surreal running through empty streets in the darkness chasing a ghostly bride. I passed her just before the end of my leg. That felt awesome.
What didn’t feel awesome was the next hour or so before we got to sleep. I will always be grateful to our driver for getting us safely to the next exchange and setting up a little tent for me, Rich and Bean. So kind. We threw ourselves down on the ground to sleep. It felt so good to stretch out. Sleep didn’t come easily for any of us – the exchange was noisy, van alarms went off, people talked and adrenaline still coursed through our veins, but we rested a little and slept enough.
A night exchange. Headlights, vans and portaloos
Van 2 had run through the night…from 2.30 to 8am. Utter rock stars. We had some time to wake up, get much-needed coffee and pastries from Peets and brush our teeth. We were pretty comatose but no-one was grumpy or snippy. Awesome people. We looked particularly attractive by now. Sweaty, slept-on hair and no mascara is one of my best looks.
Zombie-like in the morning
Matt covered the final Runner 1 leg, tearing up the course. Amanda had the joy of running past the first vines but had to run on a very busy road up a big hill. There was a lot of van congestion – significant traffic jams which we managed to avoid due to our sheer awesomeness but many runners at the next exchange finished before their van arrived and stood exhausted and shivering for a long time waiting for their runner. Sabrina, Matt and Rich ran again – the sun came out and finally it was my last run.
Bean and I cheer on the runners, always being careful to not get any safety violations Photo Credit: Milfrunner
Amanda among the vines
IronBalls sets off on his final leg
Leg 4
My legs were NOT happy to run again. The first mile of this 4-mile leg was deeply unpleasant. It was rolling hills – nothing big but like a roller-coaster. I crawled up every climb and juddered awkwardly down every descent. It took a good mile and a half to feel half decent. However I remembered the Pre quote about racing to see who had the most guts and I was determined to have the most guts. Most of the runners out on this leg were clearly exhausted; many took walk breaks, so I ploughed along at my top speed, reeling them in with my new laser focus. The last mile and a half were all downhill so I just went for it and ended up hurtling into the exchange. I didn’t turn my watch on at the start but I ran the 3.5 miles I did measure at 8.40 pace and I was grinning like a loon at the end. I grinned less when I got stung by a wasp on my back as I got a drink. Ow.
Our Roadkill score
Yeah, we got into it.
And with that, Van 1 was finished. We now needed to wait for Van 2 to run their legs. Van 2 definitely had a tougher time of it. Two of their three legs were in the heat of the day, the other was in the dead of night. Their legs were longer, harder and on less runner-friendly roads. We really felt for them! Having filled our faces with food (our sympathy didn’t prevent us from eating) we drove up the Silverado Trail to Calistoga and the finish line, passing Jen on the way. Those last legs were particularly brutal for van 2. The Silverado Trail sounds so lovely but it’s basically a busy road in direct sunshine and looked like miserable running. We made a point of cheering on every single runner and many looked like death (apart from Jen who looked like Lauren Fleshman).
Ticking off our legs.
Oh really, is Rich an Ironman?
We had a few hours at the finish line ‘party’ which was actually pretty good. Runners got free beer but had to pay $6 for tiny glasses bad wine if you didn’t drink beer, which was a shame. Luckily just one glass,when sleep-deprived and dehydrated, felt like half a bottle, so we basically sat in our sleeping bags and went to sleep. Top party!
Sleepy party selfie
Photo Credit: Milfrunner
Ain’t no party like a Ragnar party
The Dude’s wonderful babysitters dropped him off and before too long, Van 2 arrived with Jim, our last runner, still out on the course. Soon enough, he was charging down the road like a rhino and leading us in a slightly disorganized rabble under the finish line. 11 runners, one new-hipped driver and one tag-along four-year-old dressed as a minion. Team ‘You’re the Wine That I Want’ had crossed the line in and frankly, we rocked it.
205 miles and all we got was a blurry team photo. Blurred due to extreme speed.
My relay ended particularly sweetly when my little boy came over, put his hand in mine and asked me politely if I would like to dance with him. There is only one answer to that so I hauled my stiff, aching legs off the chair and danced with my son. He’s got his daddy’s moves!
Shaking it with the Dude
Overall thoughts on Ragnar Napa Valley
There was a lot of ‘feedback’ about the race on its FB page. Many people, especially in their team’s second vans, had a lot to complain about. I can only speak for my own experience.
Pros
- On the whole, I thought this was a well organized race.
- Signage was generally excellent. There were a couple of confusing bits on my leg but nothing that couldn’t be worked out by carrying your route map.
- There were plenty of portaloos along the course (which is the most important thing for me) and they were always decent and had loo-roll and hand-sanitizer.
- The volunteers were fab.
- The party at the end was great. The best end-of-race party I’ve seen. Or slept through.
Cons
- I don’t think the course is great. The route is very indirect. To some degree, this is to be expected but a few legs were basically ‘loops’ that didn’t go anywhere. In contrast, my Colorado relay was very obviously between two towns and every leg moved us forward.
- One of my team-mates pointed this out but I don’t think the towns we passed through really appreciated us being there. Marin and Wine Country are kind of fancy-pants and we smelly runners got in the way a bit. In one town, a supermarket’s car-park had a sign saying Ragnar Vans weren’t welcome there. I get it, we’re in the way a bit, but if they’d embraced the race, like the Tour de France, we would have spent our good, sweaty money in their shops and come back to visit!
- Many of the roads are unsuitable for runners. They are often very busy and several of our runners felt unsafe at times. The Silverado Trail was a particularly bad example. Vans weren’t allowed to support runners during these legs (where they actually needed support). Getting in and out of exchanges during this stretch looked pretty grim.
- Van 1 hardly saw any vines during its legs. I’d envisaged me running effortlessly through the vines but in the end, I didn’t run past any. Van 2 DID run past vines but on a busy road in the burning sunshine so probably didn’t appreciate them.
- Calistoga (and wine county in general) is not a good ending point. In contrast to the end of my last relay at Steamboat in Colorado (which had plentiful, reasonably priced accommodation) hotels are relatively few. They are also pricey and require two nights over weekends. This was the reason why we, as a team, didn’t stay over after the race and celebrate but rather go home instead. Such a shame. Clearly the idea of a relay to Wine Country is hugely appealing and sells well, but in practical terms, it’s not great.
General comments
- The race medals failed to arrived from the suppliers in time. Race Control gave us a heads-up in enough time to manage expectations and made up for it with extra beer tickets (but not wine!). They also gave us buckles from Ragnar Trail races to keep us going till our medals are mailed to us. I appreciated the gesture even if I felt it was unnecessary and a little odd to give us mementoes from a race we didn’t do. I’m not sure how medals fail to arrive on time if you’ve known the race date for a year.
- I think the option of free beer OR wine at the end is pretty much obligatory for a race in wine country.
- I would have paid anywhere between $10 and $20 for a shower at the end.
Overall thoughts on our team.
We had a blast. What wonderful people. Both vans gelled really well – I would do another relay with those people in a heartbeat. Next weekend! So much fun!
Maybe not next weekend…I’m so tired.
