A team relay

On the first day of work, a coworker approached me and asked if I could run 5 miles.  After I said yes, things got rolling, and I signed up to joint the corporate team in Ragnar.  Found out later I would be running 3 legs of at least 5 miles over the course of 3 days.

The Ragnar Race Washington, D.C. is a 200 mile relay that starts in Cumberland, MD and ends in National Harbor.  My team of 12 was split into vans of 6 each, and each runner would run 3 legs of differing lengths and intensities.  My legs varied from running through a mountain forest trail in Maryland to a 1AM run on country roads in the pitch black.  With stops at a creamery for burgers, high school for showers and spaghetti, amusement park for hot chocolate, empty grass fields for sleep, etc etc...it was a medley of crappy and amazing moments.

Strangers end up friends, and friends become closer buddies.  You really have to rely on one another and support each other to make it through the race.  My favorite part of the race was running through the dark country roads at 1AM with only my flashlight providing light.  The cool breeze, refreshing air, and farms surrounding me made me realize who lucky I was to be able to run this.  Just 3 years earlier, I was wondering if I'd ever be able to run freely again...and now I was running quickly through Maryland in the wee hours of the morning.

Big picture, we had combined to run 200 miles.  That's amazing.

What's even better are the memories made on those 200 miles.

Yes, we may place 1st in corporate.  But what's best are the sweat and tears that went into finishing this relay.

For my memory: "it's gotta be in the van" "those jelly shots taste amazing"  "big hair spider"  "best 3 hours of sleep I've ever had"  "kill, kill, kill' "1 minute, 23 seconds"