Ragnar makes us feel Rich

In October my friend Brandt asked a couple of us in the singles ward if we wanted to participate in a Ragnar Relay in April. Its a 200 mile relay from Huntington Beach to Coronado. 12 people on your team, separated into 2 vans. Running for 30 hours straight. It sounded like a blast so we signed up and paid quickly feeling really excited. We had 7 months to train, and by then we would be in amazing shape!


...After 6 months passed by, I realized I should probably start running. First mistake. As it got closer I became really nervous about the whole deal. Along the way we heard stories about people getting hit from drunk drivers and passing out from heat. This was NOT helping my anxiety. The night before the race I asked my Dad for a blessing (yes, it was necessary) and we went grocery shopping, and picked up our rental vans. Ragnar to Riches was ready! Prepared or not...it was happening.

When we got to our first location, our other van of teammates had already finished their first legs. God bless them, they had been up since 4:30! We decorated our van and got checked in, also sitting through a safety instruction that made me more nervous than putting me at ease.

Brandt kicked us off by running 7.3 miles. By this time, it was getting pretty hot and we were all feeling the adrenaline of finishing our first run. Lets do this!

My first leg was 6 miles and it was pretty challenging. It was 89 degrees and the track was a lot of uphill. I was dehydrated and losing ambition. BUT I made it (with the help of the sweetest, Max, who distracted me with uplifting conversation.)

After this, I felt good about myself, but I still had my worries.

After cheering each other on, (and a lot of strangers,) we met our other van to make them run for a bit!

It was then, that we got spaghetti and got to lay in a field in the middle of nowhere to receive some much needed sleep. We probably got 30 minutes, tops. It was time to run our night legs!

My night run was 2 miles and the best leg of all. We all had incredible times for our nightly runs and after that course we were all stirred up with excitement. The coolness of the air and the black of the night was exactly what we needed to get pumped up. (This is also where some of our best one liners, and delirious comments came into picture).

We then went and slept in a field in La Jolla. It was 4:30am at this point and we did not care at all where we would lay, as long as we had our sleeping bags. We got a good 4 hours of sleep and then awaited our other van to complete our last legs!

We were still pretty tired at this point but seeing our other team van come in and having them being done, made us extremely excited (and a little jealous.......okay a lot).

We ran through La Jolla and downtown San Diego for our last legs. A lot of us had great views down by the water while running and the weather was really nice. As each of us completed our last legs the feeling of relief after they were done was what pushed us on to continue to carry on! The end was in sight.

My last leg was 5.2 miles and was a nice course. Handing over that baton (slap bracelet) to the last runner was a feeling ill never forget. I was finished! DONE&DONE!

We then drove to meet our last runner and fellow team mates to run across the finish line together. We did it!!! As the DJ was calling out our team name and the song playing was "Put your hands in the air" I think our emotions were at an all time high. We took pictures and drank in the sweet taste of victory. It felt SO GOOD. I had a new respect for all of my team mates. As I looked around, the lovely smiles on their faces, was all that I needed.

My pent up excitement and adrenaline, mixed with the sweet feeling of accomplishment drew me to tears. I had accomplished something I never thought I could. Doubting myself along the way, I proved myself wrong. I AM capable of hard things. With faith and perseverance, I can do things that are difficult. I came, I saw, I conquered. And Holy Hannah, does THAT feel good, or what?!

Ragnar 2 Riches, baby! 2011 So Cal Ragnar.
WE DID IT!!!!!

Special THANK YOU shout out to- Max Hatch for chauffeuring us, feeding us, and making us laugh. And to Aaron Hatch, and Hillary Miller for being our fabulous team volunteers! You guys are the best.