Nice scenery....Source.
When we left off, Van 1 ended our first set of 'legs' at Bellingham High School in the early afternoon. This was also the first exchange selling merchandise. So we promptly went and dropped some $$$ getting geared up.
The Ragnar merch 'store'....which was nearly knocked over with a
huge gust of wind right after we finished buying our stuff.
huge gust of wind right after we finished buying our stuff.
We passed off to Van 2 and got a little break. After traversing our first 6 legs, we were hungry and set off in search of a hot meal.....at Bob's Burgers in downtown Bellingham, where the waitress was kind enough to hook me up with a bag of ice to sit on. After refueling, we decided to head straight down to the next major exchange, Burlington High School, about half hour away. We got down there, cleaned up a bit and took some short naps, while waiting for Van 2 to finish their legs.
Zzzzzzzz.......
Aannd here she is.....
Passed off to Aaron and there he goes....Leg 13- 6 miles.
This was the beginning of our 'night leg'....but it didn't actually get dark until my turn....Ragnar nighttime rules require everyone outside the van to wear safety gear...so pretty much after Aaron's leg, we all had to don the required shiny stuff.
Handoff 1 - Aaron to Juliet for Leg 14 - 5.7 miles
The first two legs of this set were pretty light. And Juliet got to run on some trails and she made some awesome 'kills'....
Dusk set in right before it was my turn for Leg 15. This one was a little shorty through Burlington and by the time I was done, it was very dark.
Handoff for Leg 15 - 3.5 miles. Slap me baby!
The exchange where I handed off to Norman....
Norman is off - Leg 16 - 3 miles
Here's where it started to get scary. Most of these roads through the night in Burlington were on two lane, no shoulder roads, much like our first jaunt through Ferndale. At night, that posed an additional issue-- visibility. Not just for the drivers on the road, but for the runners. We were running against traffic unless directed otherwise, which meant that you were running with headlights in your eyes. So you do what they teach you in drivers ed-- look down at the white lines on the road to stay on it. Pretty dicey for Jason and April, our last runners that night.
Hand off a go! Jason was off for Leg 17 - 5 miles
Annndd, she's done! April closed out leg 18 at 5.5 miles.
By this time, it was after 11pm and we were starved! But of course, nothing but bars, casinos or fast food was open at that time....we stopped and tried a couple places to no avail and just decided to head to the next major exchange and hope there was food there. This was a bit farther away....all the way across Deception Pass to Oak Harbor high school. We got there and boo ya! There were baked potatoes for sale. Best one I've ever had....although why they had chili as a topping was beyond me. We erred on the side of caution on that one, but others did not, unfortunately.....
As soon as we settled into the very quiet gym...someone
laid down not one but two very loud farts....which at that time
of night was hi-larious!
laid down not one but two very loud farts....which at that time
of night was hi-larious!
We spent the night 'sleeping' on a very hard gym floor...which all told, was about 2 hours of sleep. I don't think I actually fell asleep either....it was more of a doze. But whatever it was was short lived....we were up and getting ready for the final leg by 5am.
Final legs - Game On!!
Stay tuned for part 3 to come, hopefully tomorrow.
2 comments:
Sounds so very fun! I want to do a running relay race sometime!
@shay--you should! It was probably one of the best experiences I've ever had...gets a little pricey all told, but worth every penny in my opinion! In fact, a little secret I haven't announced yet....I loved it so much we've already put together an all women's Ultra team for Ragnar Las Vegas in November. Boo ya! Bring it. Cannot wait!
Post a Comment