Our Ragnar Team, Complete Structural Failure.
This past weekend Jake and I were able to run another Ragnar race together. We left the kids with Ben and Lacy (thanks so much guys), and left on Friday morning. This race started at the Clark County Fair Grounds near Overton, Nevada, went through the Valley of Fire National Park, down to Lake Mead, around the bottom of Vegas, and then around to the west side of Vegas. All in all it was about 171 miles. Our team "Complete Structural Failure" (there are a few structural Engineers, and others who work at the office, on the team, so that is where the name came from) started at 11:30am. This time Jake and I were in Van 2, so our section of legs started at 3:00pm in the Valley of Fire State Park. We left at 9:30 in the morning to get down there with not much time to spare. After we were on the road for only half an hour we were stopped on the freeway in traffic. We got out to see what was ahead, and only about 20 cars ahead of us there was an accident and the emergency vehicles were not even there yet. Within a few minutes a few emergency vehicles arrived on scene. We sat there for a few more minutes wondering if they were going to open up one of the lanes of the freeway. After more than a half hour of sitting there we were getting a little anxious because we were going to be late if we didn't start moving. Luckily we were in an area of the freeway were there was a way across to the other side, so we flipped a U, and found a new route to get past the accident.
After picking up some of our team in St. George we got to the Vally of Fire State Park about 3:15 which was 10 minutes to late. The runner had made it to that exchange 10 minutes before we got there, so they had to wait until we showed up.
It was a hot day and they call it the Valley of Fire for a good reason. Jake's first run was leg 9, 7.7 miles rated very hard. It was at about 6:00 so it had cooled off a little. He did great, especially for having the stomach flu a few days earlier. My first run was leg 12, 8.7 miles rated very hard. I started my run at 10:00 that night. It was so nice to be running in the cool of the night, and because we were in the middle of no where it was really dark outside. Living in the city I forget how many stars are in the sky and how beautiful it is. I also forget how quiet it can be. There weren't even crickets chirping out there. Except for the occasional runner and car, and my team checking up on me every few miles, I was completely alone. It was great.
My run ended at the Lake Mead boat launch. This was the first time that I had been to Lake Mead, and I couldn't see a thing. I was a little sad that I couldn't enjoy the view because by the time it would get light, we would be gone to the next part of our race.
After my run our team was done for a few hours and so we found place in the parking lot, put our sleeping bags out on the asphalt, or slept in the car, and tried to get a little sleep. With hundreds of other runners trying to do the same, we didn't sleep much. After about one hour of kind of sleeping we packed up to go to the next exchange and the next part of our race, which started about 3:00am. Jake next leg was a moderate 4 miles and mine which was at about 7:00am was an easy 2.1 miles. I really think they slipped an extra mile in there because it seemed a lot longer than 2 miles. At this point of the race we were running through Boulder City and the street of Henderson.
During this set of legs, at about 5:00am, one of the routes was rerouted because of an accident. The cop there informed us that a runner was hit by a drunk driver. This was such a blow to us and to all of the runners there, and a little disturbing. It could have been any one of us there. You feel a special bond with all of the runners out there. Everyone looks after each other and cheers each other on. We were a little uneasy as we ran the rest of our legs that morning. We later found out that the car was seen by a few of the Ragnar volunteers a few blocks before the accident going about 90 mph with his headlights off. It was 5 am and still dark outside. They had called 911 to report it. A few blocks later is were a member of a team was crossing the road to give his team member, who was running, some water, and he was hit and killed. It is such a sad story. His wife was on the team and he has little kids at home. It makes me want to cry whenever I think about it.
Be so careful if you ever run in the dark. As you can see in the pictures, during the race, if it is dark, they make us wear a reflective vest, head light a butt light.
After we finished this set of legs, we had a 3 hour break and decided to go to one of the schools they had opened at an exchange and try to get a little sleep on the grass. I think I slept about an hour and when I woke up I could tell I was in a deep sleep and woke up to soon because my body ached everywhere. After getting up and moving around and getting a little running adrenaline we were ready to get going.
The race route went down around the bottom of Vegas and then around to the west side. Our last set of legs started about 11:00am and went by the Spring Mtn Ranch State Park. We were out of the city at this point and running through a lot of sage brush, Joshua Trees, and cacti. It was really hot. Since we all had been used to training in 30-40 degree weather, and being able to see our breath at times, running in Vegas in the upper 80s, in the hot sun was really hot. Jake ran a moderate 3 miles about12:30 and about 2:30pm I ran my last leg, a moderate 5.6 miles. I was the last runner on the team so I was able to finish out the race. It ended at the Red Rock Casino a little after 3:10pm. Our team time was 27 hours and 38 minutes. Hooray for the "Complete Structural Failure" team.
I have loved running with Jake. It has been so much fun to do these past few races with him. During my runs he is the one who came and gave me water and it was so nice to see his handsome face and hear is encouraging words that accompanied a little pat on the bum. It gave me enough determination and motivation to get through the race. During those hot hours of running he was my oasis in the desert... heehee... love ya Jake.
Gotta love those port-a-potties.
Jake ran so fast everything else was just a blur.
Everyone in Van 2.
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Another one of my favorite things about William... he got to pick anything he wanted for his birthday breakfast, and he picked oatmeal, his favorite breakfast. I think he would be totally happy if the only things I fed him were oatmeal and pb&j sandwiches.
