Muffin Tops Rule Ragnar!!!

The last weekend of February I got to run the Ragnar Relay again. I ran it last year for the first time, and loved it, so immediately jumped on a team of 12 ladies, and we had a blast.

The Ragnar Relay is a 204 mile race a team runs from Prescott, AZ down to Tempe, AZ. We had a team of 12 ladies. 6 in each van. Each runner has a leg that they run, and we run 3 times. It is a continuous race from start to finish, and takes about 30 hours. So that basically means you really don't get any sleep that whole time. It's a blast!!

I was runner 5 this year in van 1. My 3 legs totaled 16 1/2 miles. I ran 5.5 miles around 10 a.m. the first day. Here I am somewhere outside of Prescott.

Then that night at 9:30 I ran 6.5 miles, down the side of US Highway 60 out of Wickenburg. It is all sorts of fun running at night by the light of the moon, all alone, and making sure you really get to the side of the shoulder of the road when a a semi is coming at you!

My final leg was from Cave Creek to the outside of Fountain Hills. It was only 3.4 miles, but it was mostly uphill. It was a little rough, because by now your legs have figured out what the heck you are doing, and are wondering why in the heck you are doing it, and they start to protest. But, I did it! And, I was only kinda sore the next day. By Monday I was pretty much back to normal.

So here is a picture of the whole team at the finish line. Because most of us don't actually have muffin tops (that we are willing to admit!) one of the girls made some fake ones. They are quite hilarious. She got some skin colored nylons and stuffed it with cotton filler. We wore them around our waist under our shirts, and looked like we had a sweet roll going on! It was funny. We got lots of compliments on our team name and creativity. :)

The awesome runners of van 1!!!!

At the first exchange - it was pretty dang cold up there! We walked around handing out mini muffins to other vans and runners. We were quite a hit!

Finally, lest you all think we are weird, I promise, we were pretty tame compared to some of the people. People really get into this. I don't know the name of this team, but I LOVED their outfits!

Now, because it is too dang hard to get these pictures in order, I'll just put them on in random order!

Here I am getting the hand-off from Rachel. She is 5 ft. 11, so it was fun to have another tall blonde on the team! :)

Me and Kristen with our Muffin Top flag on the van. You can't see it, but our "logo" was a pair of jeans with a big muffin top on top. Very cute and creative! May I also note that this was at the end of the race - on maybe 2 hours of sleep, and lots of sweat!

Like I said . . . some people are just really different and really get into it.

The whole team running in at the finish at Tempe Marketplace. Most of us have the muffin tops on.

We really had a blast. Now it looks like we are going to have to do the Red Rock Relay in Southern Utah that Keith told me about. Should be lots of fun!

The only downer to the race was an 18 year old kid was hit on the side of the road at about 2 in the morning and died a few days later. So, so sad. Just a reminder of how short life is.

I love that I can actually say I love running! What great therapy. Nothing like turning on the I-pod and running all your cares or thoughts away.