Ran the Ragnar with our Edge Products company team. It was fun. We had a cancelation that opened up a spot for my 14 year old son, Nathaniel, to join the team. He is so cool. When I asked him if he wanted to run on our Ragnar Team he enthusiastically responded "OK!" He hasn't done a ton of running, but he's very fit from swimming and has been on some runs alone and with me this year. He was runner 11 and I was 12. His first leg was to run up Trappers Loop and hand it off to me at the turnoff to Snowbasin. Traffic was so bad and he was so fast that he was already at the exchange when we were still a ways from the exchange. I got out of the car and ran to the exchange (about an extra mile) and when I ran up to him he jokingly said, "what took you so long Dad?" I ran the baton to Snowbasin only walking to get a few drinks along the way. I averaged 9:03 min/mi climbing almost 1k feet over 4 miles.
Nathan's next run was around Rockport Reservoir at 3am. I wanted to spend time with Nathan so I ran with him for his 5.5 mile leg which he did at a 9:45 pace. We listended to a playlist on my phone's external speaker including "Mayberry" by Rascal Flatts because it felt like we were running through little Mayberry's along the route. Nathan picked it up in the last 500 yards because he wanted to pass a girl that had passed us just a few minutes earlier, which he did. I then took the baton and ran to Oakley, about 7 miles and it seemed to be all uphill. I'm not sure I trust the elevation profiles they publish for this race. I pushed it hard and found satisfaction in knocking off--so called "kills"--runners one at a time ahead of me. Two runners passed me as I neared Oakley, but I stayed with them to the finish line.
In our truck's third leg, after summiting the Ragnar (Guardsman Pass) Nathaniel took the baton and ran down into Deer Valley. Mostly downhill with a long climb in the middle. He averaged 9:52 and ended up with some stomache issues and a quarter sized blister on the bottom of his heel. I was so proud of him though. He's a tough kid. I hope he'll get into cross country this summer and fall. What a great sport. Waiting for Nathan to come in, I wondered to myself how many "kills" I could get in the last leg coming from the lower base of Deer Valley into Park City High. I know it's a dumb thing, but I wanted something to motivate me to run hard. I wondered if 50 was a reasonable number. As I watched teams come into the exchange and hand off to fresh runners, I thought to myself that 50 was probably a lofty goal. Nathan came in and handed off to me and off I went. About 200 yards later I was passed by the next runner behind me. Wow! I wondered if I'd see him later. I passed about 10 people climbing up a few hills through a neighborhood. Then I passed another 10 running down a steep dirt road (which I figured most of them hadn't spent much time running on dirt). Down the rail trail I got another 8 (includng the guy who passed me earlier) and then we crossed the highway and ran through a field, mostly uphill. I found myself wanting more hills to increase the pain of the runners ahead of me so they would walk, knowing I wouldn't. I picked off about 10 more leading up to the last aid station and was at 38. Climbing the last little hill I got four more and running down the other side into some neighborhoods I passed four more. With 1/2 mile to go I was at 46 and could see four more people beginning with a woman about 200 yards ahead of me. I hunkered down and caught all of them and with about 1/10th of a mile left I passed my bonus runner to make it 51. A minor accomplishment for my ego, but fun just the same.
The team, including Nathaniel, met me outside the stadium and we all ran into the finish line together. I actually don't really care for the Ragnar. I thought the traffic congestion, waiting, weirdness, and lack of sleep were just not my style. I'd much rather do an ultra team or probably better yet, just skip it altogether. But this year was fun. Our truck had a really good, supportive and fun group and being with Nathaniel was the bomb. | 