Disney World Marathon 2022

 Disney World Marathon

January 9, 2022 is when I ran the Disney World Marathon.  The experience was absolutely amazing and a dream come true.  There was just so much about the race to share that I thought I would write up a blog post about it, even though it has been years since I've touched this blog.  I'll be sharing my experiences and my opinions about the marathon from 3 different points of view: 

    1- Runner attempting a PR/BQ 

    2- Experienced Marathoner running for fun

    3- New marathoner trying to finish a marathon.  

I ran as the second type of runner, but I believe that I gained insights about how all 3 might experience the marathon.

History

For anyone who doesn't know me, I wanted to give some information about how I ended up signing up for this race in the first place.  Even though the Disney Marathon is very large, there can be many hurdles when it comes to participating in this event.  In 2013 I visited my grandma in Orlando.  I had started running in 2011 and my grandma was very proud of me.  She and my grandpa had volunteered at the Disney Marathon for years before I started running and once I became a runner she was really excited for me to run the race that she and grandpa had helped for years.  Even though I was a new runner, I knew about the Disney Marathon and the Dopey Challenge and wanted to run them someday but I also didn't think I would be able to run them for a few reasons.

        1. I had only done 2 half marathons by spring 2013

        2. I had broken 3 bones in my foot

        3. Disney races sold out really fast (in minutes)

        4. Days off of work, some possibly unpaid

        5. Flights (I couldn't drive in January)

        6. Unpredictable weather between Ohio and Florida in January

        7. Disney races were really expensive ($1000 is what I was looking at)

I put Disney races into the category of dream races that would probably never happen.  Then 2020 turned everything wonky and somehow made the Disney Marathon something I had to do.  

So many elements of 2020 and 2021 changed things.  My grandma turned 90 in 2021 and was considering moving to Ohio but, was still hesitant because she didn't want to move into a shared living space during a pandemic.  The other elements above had changed too.

        1. I had done 6 marathons and 3 virtual marathons, I knew I could run it

        2. All healed for the moment (injury is always possible in running)

     3. Races were not selling out, people were hesitant to register because there was still a chance that many races would go virtual like they had in the past year.  In fact, the marathon was open for registration for over a month.

        4. If I only did the marathon, I wouldn't need many days off of work

       5. I had flown for the Rock & Roll New Orleans race, so we had learned more about affordable flights

        6. This didn't change, and still caused me a lot of stress

     7. $200 for the marathon was still a lot, but not as bad as Dopey or as bad compared to other marathons

With all of these changes, I knew I had to give Disney a chance.  I called my grandma when I saw that registrations were still open when I checked online.  I asked her if she would stay in Orlando until January, so that I could stay with her when I came to run.  She was ecstatic!  Not only would she stay in Florida for that, she would pay for my registration, help me arrange rides, and do whatever else she could to help me reach my dream.  I was going to be running the Disney World Marathon.

Resource

At this point I want to link a wonderful resource that I used for the next couple of months to make the most out of my marathon experience. 

Run Disney Facebook Group - Not officially related to Disney, but a super supportive group of experienced runners, experienced Disney runners, and new runners.  No question is stupid and every question gets information they need.  If you want to run any Disney event, I suggest joining this group.

I also suggest buying the Memory Maker.  It's a 1 day photo pass where you get all of your race pictures for up to 5 bibs.  The more photos you stop for, and the more people running with you, the more value you get.  It's $70 for one day.  Better than Marathonfoto.

Race Travel

I watched many weather apps, checked the status of my flights, and checked the weather in my layover cities so many times I think I reprogramed any computer algorithms that stalk me.  I was leaving for Florida on Friday, had to go the the expo before 3 pm on Saturday, was returning on Monday, and going back to work on Tuesday.  If I had to change to driving I would only have one chance to do that (from Cincinnati at 6am) if I wanted any chance of going to the expo.  I was very nervous about something going wrong.  Luckily, I changed my flight on the Wednesday before the race.  I got a direct flight to and from Orlando, I wouldn't be stranded at a layover.  Now, I could focus on the race events and their associated stress.

Expo

Once I arrived in Orlando, grandma and I headed straight to the expo.  Disney decks out the entire ESPN Wide World of Sports for the marathon.  No matter why you're running you can enjoy lots of photo ops, props for selfies, and encouraging signs.  The expo is split into 3 separate buildings in that area.  Building 1 contains race bibs (safety pins and a gear check bag with it) and that is it.  Then head to building 2 which contains the race shirts and vendors who are not associated with Disney, like most races have.  

There were local running stores, shoe companies, lots of pulse massage guns, medal displays, clothing, headbands, and a few other race booths.  While similar to other race expos, it seemed more limited with less free stuff and almost like they knew they were lucky to have a booth there.  This was the first building where I saw areas for photo ops.  They had race maps, park posters, and other areas just for pictures.

Finally, building 3 is where all the Disney Merchandise is held.  Where most races force runners to go through their merchandise as a way to get to the race shirts, Disney makes it something you can completely avoid if you want to avoid it.  But that's because they know that no one will skip it.  In fact many people make it their first or only stop.... resellers are not nice people.... In the last building, there are extra race shirts ("I did it" shirts), magic bands, pins, bottles, jackets, magnets, and other items that all sport the logo and characters for the race and the year.  Unfortunately, there are many Disney collectors out there who want anything and everything Disney, whether they run or not, so resellers will show up early and often to get the maximum number of the most in-demand items then sell them online for double, triple, or quadruple the price.  If you want the most selection, you have to be at the expo hours before it opens on the first day to have any chance of picking up many of these items.

Experienced Marathoners: While it is disappointing that you can't get all the swag you might want, it's not really a huge deal breaker.  Many of us have lots of race goodies and won't be too upset with missing out on a Spirit Jersey

First Time Marathoners: I would suggest a different marathon for your first if you want souvenirs from your first marathon.  I know that I was really excited to shop all the merchandise at my first marathon since it seemed like a whole new store was open to me.  I never would have bought anything 26.2 until that race's expo and I still waited on some of it until after I was done.  With Disney, if you feel like I did about 26.2 you will probably be disappointed in your options at the expo and you really can't get much of anything after the race. 

Race Morning

Disney has one of the earliest start times I have ever experienced at a race.  The race starts at 5:00 am and runners are expected to be at the race by 3:30 am.  This means that runners who are naturally really early (like me) are getting up around 1 am and getting to the park at 2:48 am.  Once at the park, take note of where you parked (I forgot to do that and almost lost my grandma's car, whoops) and get ready to walk.  I had a fairly close parking spot but I still had about 5000 steps by the time I got into my place in my starting corral.  As you head toward the front of the park, you are directed through many areas all behind fences leading you to the post-race area.  There aren't any shortcuts, you have to go from the park entrance, through a labyrinth, to the finish area before you can even start to head to the start.  The finish line area has a tent selling breakfast items, a food truck selling coffee, gear check trucks, merchandise area (open at 3:30), water, lots of port-o-pots, and a holding area until you are released to the corrals at 3:30.  Once released to the corrals it takes about 30 minutes to walk to your spot in the corral (depending on which corral you're in and how far into your corral you can get).  I was in the 3rd corral and I got in early so I was less than 20ft back from the front of the corral.

Going for a PR or BQ: Use the distance from the holding area to the corrals as a warm up.  If you warm up later than that then there is a good chance you will not get a good position in your corral if you get in the correct corral at all.  There was no shifting in the corrals, you got in and that's where you started.  Hardly anyone moved to be near a pacer or to get a better position.  Also, make sure you bring some food because the gap between breakfast and race start is more than my body is used to.

Experienced running for fun: Be prepared for all the walking, even experienced marathoners can be worn down by a 2 mile walk from the car to the start position.  I would also suggest that these runners bring food to snack on.  For me it was nearly a 5 hour gap between breakfast and race start.  When I started running I could tell that my breakfast was long gone and I would be running on near empty for a while.  If I ran it again, I would bring peanut butter crackers to eat before starting.  It also helps to take a seat in your corral once you are in there.  You warmed up some by walking there, but standing for an hour will stiffen you back up.  Sit and stretch for a while.

First Time Marathoner: Getting to 26.2 seems so impossible while you're training, now add another 2 miles of walking to get to the start.  I think this extra distance is the hardest thing for 1st time marathoners to deal with.  When training, it's tempting to sit all day when you're not doing your long run.  I suggest taking walks after finishing your long runs to get used to extra time on your legs.  First time marathoners don't have a proof of time, so you are probably going to be farther back in the corrals, which means more walking.  The earlier you are in your corrals, the more time you have to rest in your corral before the race starts.  Also, bring food because it does take longer for the later corrals to start.  Corral 6 can take close to an hour to start after corral 1 has started.

For all runners I suggest bringing snacks, using the port-o-pots before heading to the corrals, skipping the merchandise tent until after the race, getting into your corral as early as you can, and relaxing/ stretching once in the corral.

Race 

The Disney World Marathon travels to and through all 4 Disney Parks.  This keeps the course interesting and varied during many parts of the race and you always know that you have another park coming on your route.  When it's boring (between parks) they provide entertainment to keep you going.  Every mile marker has its own theme and music playing from it and some stretches of highway have large screens and speakers lining the roadway so runners can watch parts of Disney movies while they run.  I thought that the treadmill runners must feel right at home during these parts.  They also had many live music acts along the course as well as a few DJs.  Epcot had a Mariachi Band in Mexico during the first time through, Magic Kingdom had a Chinese Drum band, Animal Kingdom had a Polynesian Band with hula dancers, Disney Studios had a Boy Band, and Epcot had a Gospel Choir right near the last mile of the race.  Since the entire route is on Disney property it was one of the best taken care of routes I have ever run.  I didn't see any garbage off the sides of the road, didn't have to deal with any cars on or near the course, had lots of trash cans throughout the entire course, only saw 3 potholes during the entire run, and had aide stations nearly every mile on the course and even those didn't have a mess of cups around them.  The course is very flat but has just enough elevation change that it created some variety for your legs while running.  

PR or BQ Runners: The hardest part on my legs was the change in running surfaces.  When you're on the highway it's all blacktop, but once you hit the parks the running surface can change pretty dramatically.  You enter Magic Kingdom going downhill and suddenly hit concrete, which was jarring to me and I wasn't trying to go really fast.  Running through Cinderella's Castle involved running on brickwork, past the teacups meant running on some slippery stone work, and being fast meant running through areas that are not lit up well, I was wishing that I had my headlamp a few times.  I think they plan for most runners to hit that area after sunrise.  Animal Kingdom had faux trail, like what you would see at a zoo.  It was uneven like a trail, but not soft.  Between Disney Studios and Epcot you run on the boardwalk for some of the resorts.  The boardwalk itself can be a rough change but if it's wet it can be even rougher.  Besides the surface changes, you can go really fast on this course and the abundance of aide stations can really help a runner do their best at this race. 

Experienced running for fun: Fun can be defined many ways and your definition of fun can change

what makes this race difficult for you.  Since you are comfortable with marathons and this course is good for setting a PR it is easy to get caught up in how easy it might feel to go faster.  My warnings about the course for the PR runners holds true for this group too.  But runners trying to have fun need to consider other elements as well.  Make sure you know what goals you have for fun before you start.  My goal was to get character pictures while other runners want to ride rides or get food while running.  If you are early in the corrals, stopping for pictures does not take long at all as long as you don't want to get all of them.  Starting with the 3rd character I was able to get almost all of the characters along the course and still finish under 5 hours.  But, if I had wanted food or an adult beverage while running or for the finish line I ran too fast.  Finishing under 5 hours meant that parks were starting to open but none of the attractions or stalls were open when I passed them.  It was hard for me to believe, but I was too fast for many of the fun things that people do at Disney.  I would suggest looking up Robert Wang if you want to ride rides during the race.  I don't know what the magic pace is but you have to be fast enough to have a lead on the balloon ladies but slow enough that the parks are opening when you run through.  Robert slowed to a 24 min/mile at one point, I'm assuming to ride, based on the official results.  I'm not sure I could linger that long or take that long to ride and be ok to continue running afterwards.  

I did have issues running through some dark parts of the park since I was faster than many of the other runners.  But I also got to spend a lot of time in the sun during the second half of the race because I wasn't super fast.  The highway between Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom goes due East, directly into the sun, with hardly any shade due to it being on a highway.  This can be rough, but the character stops can come to the rescue.  When I started, I wanted to stop for characters I really liked (5 to 10 characters was the goal), but as I progressed I took each character stop as a quick break to refresh and keep going strong even if I wasn't a huge fan.  So I ended up with 24 character pictures.  I had a lot of fun with what I did and I took advantage of many of the aid stations since I was on the course longer due to stopping for characters.  

First Time Marathoners: In some ways, Disney is an ideal course for first time marathon runners.  The flat course, even with the surface changes, means that new marathoners won't have too many issues when it comes to moving forward.  I can say that I have cursed at least a few hills during a marathon and there are no hills to curse in a Disney Marathon.  The amount of aid stations is perfect for first time marathon runners.  Runners have so many opportunities for hydration and fuel along the course that they would rarely feel the need to have something outside of the aid stations.  They also had about 50 volunteers per aid station and lots and lots of supplies.  They were not going to run out of hydration or fuel, even for the last finishers.  While many marathons have a small number of runners in the front, most finishers between 3 and 5 hours, and a small number of runners from 5 hours to the final runner, Disney has most of the runners finishing after 5 hours.  This means that they do not forget about the back of the pack.  Disney will not pack up the race in front of any runners and they won't leave runners out on the course to fend for themselves to finish.  

But, it isn't all good news for the back of the pack.  Many runners in the back come through Magic Kingdom after sunrise, so they get daytime pictures coming out the of castle (could be good or bad) and don't need a headlamp but that also means that those runners spend more time in the sun on the road between Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom which can be brutal due to the lack of tree cover and having the sun out during that entire time.  The abundance of Back of the Pack runners also means it can be very crowded and may lead to more injuries due to jostling for position or can make it more difficult to get nicer pictures.  It can also be rough to pass all the "fun" parts of the race.  I'm not saying the race isn't fun, but if you just want to finish a marathon it is unlikely that you can take the time to stop for character pictures, ride rides, or pick up food or drinks in the park.  You might also face longer lines for the character pictures if you do try to stop for some of them.  As a new marathoner it is hard to judge if you have time for these things and you may have to sacrifice them so that you can meet the goal of finishing.  Finally the sweepers, aka Balloon Ladies (they don't sweep, but they are the pacers that mark the line you can't fall behind), are always a concern for new runners.  Everyone wants to finish their first marathon under their own power.  To get picked up is to fail and no one wants that.  As stated above, some races will let runners finish as long as they move to the sidewalk but they will clear the course at the appointed time.  Disney doesn't do this.  If you fall behind the 16:00/mile pace and stay behind the balloon ladies at the check point you will be picked up and you will not be allowed to finish your race.  Runners who are swept do get their medal, but no finisher ears and no challenge medals.  These are things that need to be considered when choosing if a runner wants to run Disney as their first marathon.

Post Race

If you get the Memory Maker, get all the pictures.  Reverse the script where the photographers hound you and change it to you seeking out all the photographers.  I missed a lot of the finish line photographers (finish line haze) and I wish I would have stopped to get some pictures right past the finish line.  I almost missed the staged photo area too but I noticed it while I was getting food and kicked myself for not getting those pictures right away.  The finish line of the marathon is a party and there is so much cheering.  It is a wonderful way to finish no matter your past race experience.  Keep in mind, the mascot characters for the race will be at the finish line and won't have an on course photo op.  I was not able to get a picture with Mickey and Minnie because they were right by the finish and I don't stop when the finish line is in sight.  Other runners may want to stop for that picture, but need to make sure they are out of the way before they do so because many other runners are pushing for the finish line, tired, and in a marathon haze.  You don't want to cause a crash near the finish line to get a photo.  

Post-Race Food: Disney does not provide a lot of food to runners when they finish.  If you are an experienced marathon runner this can be a disappointment, especially considering how much a Disney Marathon costs and how much other races provide.  I got a bottle of water, 2 bottles of Powerade (I do love that this is the sport drink on the course), and a box with tortilla chips, "cheese", applesauce, and a banana.  There's no free beer or pizza but they do have food trucks and booths where you can buy beer, pizza, and other post-race food.  If you get beer it comes in a refillable cup and you do get a discount when refilling it versus buying a new cup.  They also have champagne in champagne flutes for those who really want to celebrate their finish.  I believe the flutes are also of really good quality so they can be refilled or at least serve as another souvenir.  There were other food options, but I chose to stick to the Pineapple Hard Cider and a pizza cone.  It was all great quality but it wasn't cheap, so plan to bring a way to pay for some post-race food.

Finally, the post-race area is in a parking lot so there isn't any shade and you're in Florida so the sun is likely to be out.  If you plan on hanging out after the race for some time, put some sun protection (shirt, sunscreen) in your checked bag especially if you tend to burn like I do when I just sit in the sun.  

Hints

I think I have included most of my hints in the rest of this blog but I do want to include some that may have been missed.

• Disney Springs stores offer discounts to runners who come in wearing their medal
• Shopping after the race for souvenirs can be a great way to stretch 
• Don't lose your car
• Come early and bring snacks
• Put your phone on Battery Saver mode so you can use it for many pictures and videos along the course
• Take the food you can on the course since you won't get much when you finish
• There are no unofficial aid stations, since it is all on Disney property, so no random people handing out beer
• If you get a beer on course, it has to come from Epcot.  Someone near me got a beer near the resorts on the boardwalk (I don't know how) and he was pulled aside by security because he wasn't allowed to take it into Epcot.  I think he ended up chugging it.

I'm sure that there are more, and I will try to edit as I remember.  For now, this is what I remember and can share with all of you.

Conclusion 

Would I recommend this race to other runners?  

Short answer, Yes.  If you have the chance to run the Disney Marathon, I suggest you take that chance and opportunity.

Long answer, you have to determine what your ability level is and if you would enjoy the race based on the category that you would fall into.  If you are running for a PR or BQ are you fine with missing all the "fun" stuff?  If you are running for fun, are you ok really, really slowing down and forcing yourself to stop in the middle of the race if you need to?  If you are a new marathoner, are you sure you can come in ahead of the sweepers and can you still have fun without the characters or rides?  Each runner has to decide what they are comfortable with and if Disney can give them an experience worth the price of registration.  

I will say that I would not pass on a chance to run Disney again whether it's the Marathon Weekend or another race weekend.  I still want to run the Dopey Challenge one day, and hopefully I will be able to do that.  For now, I will be happy that I had an amazing Marathon experience on Disney World that I will treasure forever.

Photo Album of all photos

Challenge Races, I think I'm in Love

This year I decided to attempt a couple of challenges that I have been contemplating for a while including The Flying Pig 3-way (with extra cheese), The Midwest Ohio 10k Triple Crown, and a triathlon.  All of these events, coincidentally, have a focus on the number 3.

All the Race Goodies

My first challenge was at the Flying Pig races.  The 3-way with extra cheese involves completing The Little Kings Mile on Friday night, the 10k at 8am and the 5k at 10am on Saturday Morning, and the Half Marathon on Sunday morning.  I have done all of the races before except for The Little Kings Mile so I was confident about being able to finish all the distances but I wasn't sure it would be fun, fast, or pain-free.  For those people reading this outside of the Cincinnati area, the races get their name from a well known chili restaurant, Skyline, where the 3-way dish is a layered dish of spaghetti, chili, and cheese.  Skyline is the sponsor of the Pig challenge races.  So I signed up early, my husband and I got a hotel about 20 minutes away from the race (he signed up for the 3-way), and I trained with a few 2-a-day runs.

Expo Entrance

Friday: 
Race weekend came and Nick and I headed down to the expo.  Our first priority was The Little Kings Mile.  While the expo went on for most of the day the Mile packet pickup was only from 12-2:30.  We knew it would be busy and we knew we had to move quickly.  The Flying Pig expo is well known for many booths and many free items.  It is also set up so that you have to start at one end of a huge hall and finish at the other (bibs where you enter, race shirts at the exit).  I was also picking up packets for a few friends and family members so we had a lot of things to carry.

Expo Exit

We got a very nice parking spot in the structure attached to the convention center and headed in right around noon.  We entered above the expo and got to see just how busy we would be.  We started with our bibs then started exploring the expo.  Before we could even get through one aisle of the expo, we realized that it was almost 2:30.  I needed to get my race shirt for the 1 mile race before they packed up to go.  We rushed to the t-shirts and goodies area.  Overall, Nick and I picked up 10 bibs with bags and guides, 10 shirts, 10 posters, 2 magnets, 2 blankets, and 6 goody bags from P & G.  We were weighed down after we collected all of this and we still had about 75% of the expo to see so we decided to take a load out to the car.  Somehow I carried 7 of the giant poster boxes without dropping any until some wind hit it right before we got to the car.  After that we headed back into the expo and checked out all of the remaining booths.  We collected freebies, entered drawings for free races, bought some nice things, and tried a lot of samples.  After about 4 hours at the expo we had seen it all and could head back to our hotel.

We needed to check in at our hotel, eat, and I had to change in time for the Little Kings Mile so we felt we should get started on that.  Unfortunately, getting out of the expo at 4 put us in the middle of Cincinnati rush our and getting to our hotel was not fast.  The Little Kings Mile started at 8pm and I was staring to worry, I had not had lunch or dinner and we were stuck in traffic.  This is when I started to realize what the challenge really is for this race.  I couldn't have anything go wrong.  I couldn't oversleep, get stuck in traffic, get injured, or get sick for multiple days in a row.  If something did go wrong, I could finish the other races, but the challenge would be done and I wouldn't be able to complete it.  Three days would have to be perfect in every way I could make them (and it wasn't starting well).  Luckily, we had enough time to check in, change, eat (at Five Guys), and return to downtown with plenty of time to spare.  I am really glad that Nick likes being early for everything because he does his best to make sure we always have plenty of time to get where we need to go, even if there is a traffic jam.

Nick and I after The Little Kings Mile

Going into these races I knew that I could not even try to PR all the distances.  I had to choose which, if any, I wanted to try to run fast.  One race that I wanted to PR was my mile.  I had been working hard all winter and I felt I could push myself faster than 7:33 for this race.  The start was staggered and I made sure to start with my corral.  I wanted to be able to push, but I didn't want to be in anyone's way.  I had warmed up with a mile and the course was great for a PR, all a gradual downhill with only 1 real turn so I felt confident.  Unfortunately, slower people had moved up to my corral.  I found myself behind groups of walkers, people doing an easy run, and some people who stopped in their tracks in front of me.  I know that this is a normal thing in most races, I expect it to happen most of the time, but with only a mile to run every person I had to go around or slow down for added seconds to my final time that I couldn't cut back later in the race.  I finished in 7:45, not bad, but not the time that I was shooting for.  Nick cheered me in and met me at the end of the chute where I got a free coney, some free drinks, and some other goodies including the picture above.  They had a concert and a huge party for after the race, which was really nice.  Nick and I hung out for a little bit, but we had to get some rest for our next races.

My Mom and I on Saturday

Saturday: 
Nick and I started Saturday with the 10k at 8am.  We woke up with plenty of time for breakfast, driving, parking, and walking to the start.  We had gotten a pass at the expo for carpool parking which was free, but a little farther than some of the other parking.  We didn't mind the warm-up walk, but the walk back might prove difficult after all the weekend miles on Sunday.  We also had to get my parents' bibs to them.  My parents were just doing the 10k and were driving down on the morning of the race (it isn't far from the town where we live for 1 race, but for the 3-way it was too much driving for us).  They had asked me to pick up their packets and meet them with their bibs before the race.  I am happy to help them, but my parents are notorious for being tardy.  I told them that they absolutely had to be on time or early if they wanted me to help them.  They started off well, left town with plenty of time to spare, but had issues when they got downtown.  As I said before, I couldn't have anything go wrong and their issues were making me nervous.  My parents finally got to me with less than 10 minutes until the race start.  I got them their bibs, gave them hugs, and headed to my corral (I met them in their corral).  My goal for the 10k and 5k was to finish in decent times but not tire myself out.  I was not running for a PR because I still had a half marathon to complete.  The race started and I had every intention of taking a nice, easy, slow pace but that didn't quite go as planned.  After the 1st mile I knew I was going too fast and I tried to slow down but I really didn't.  After that, I just tried to keep it consistent.  If I can't slow down, at least don't speed up.  The course was great and very different from past years.  I saw some friends along the course cheering for us as we came back into Cincinnati from Kentucky.  I ended up finishing in about 55 minutes which gave me about an hour to prepare for the 5k.

Nick and after the Saturday races

While many 5k and 10k races do not have a gear check, the 3-way and 4-way participants get a gear check for the Saturday races.  We get a bib for each race and we can only wear one bib while we are racing or it may mess with the RFID system.  So Saturday morning we checked our 5k bib and any other supplies we needed for the 5k or after both races into the 10k bus.  I picked up my bag with my gear, changed my bib, ate some snacks to replenish my energy and spent some time with the other runners prepping for the 5k.  This gave me time to stretch but I also cooled down quite a bit.  A few other runners had taken mylar blankets to keep warm between races so that is something that I will have to do in the future.

While I was hanging out, Nick was still running.  He needed to finish the 10k before the 5k started and he knew it was going to be close.  I entered the corrals for the 5k with plenty of time to spare and started chatting with a girl from Troy and a girl from Fairfield.  One of them had finished behind me in the 10k and had admired my tattoo.  The other was an experienced 3-way runner and she gave us a lot of helpful info for the rest of the weekend.  10 minutes before the 5k started I got a notification that Nick was done with the 10k, he made it.  Now it was time to start the 5k and I hoped that I wouldn't fly off at the start again.  We started the race and off I flew (dang it) but now I was starting to feel it.  My legs were starting to feel sore and a little tired.  Luckily, the 5k was sold out and the roads were jam packed with runners.  While there was movement among the crowd, you were basically all moving as a herd.  You didn't have people sprinting ahead at all which meant that I didn't feel a need or desire to go any faster.  This course stays in Cincinnati but still goes up a short, steep hill because it's the Pig.  This course was also quite different than in past years but I liked the new course.  I ended up finishing around 28 minutes for the 5k, which I was happy with.  Now, I was just a bit worried about the half marathon in the morning since I was already feeling sore. 

All the race bibs for me

I hung out with my parents while I waited waited for Nick to finish the 5k.  After he finished we headed to after party which was at a different park than it had been at in the past.  While that park is very nice (I want to take my kids back to it some day) it was a little hard to find some of the booths and tents that were usually there.  I didn't see the results tent or the merchandise tent while we were wandering.  Nick felt tired after the 2 races, so he headed back to the car while I headed back to the expo.  I promised a friend that I would pick up an item for her so I needed to go back into that chaos once more.  Saturday can be just as busy as Friday, but luckily the crowd was more spread out.  I could easily get the items that I came for and I was able to get a second look at a few things from the day before.  A lot of the best items (Flying Pig visors) had sold out quickly on Friday and I was glad that I had grabbed one.

I went back to the car feeling calmer because I knew I only had 1 race left.  I needed to eat, rest, and wake up early in the morning.  I felt confident that I could finish the half marathon, but I was stating to think that it would be a slow one for me.  I was starting to feel tired.  When I got to the car, I could still see runners running.  Even so late on Saturday the Flying Fur 2 mile run was still taking place.  Saturday could be a long day at the Pig if you tried to run everything.  Nick and I ended up eating dinner at Red Robin (I wanted Mexican but it was May 5th and we knew it would be a long wait at any Mexican place) then we went to see Avengers: Infinity War for a nice relaxing evening.

I found Greg Watson in my Corral

Sunday:
Sunday, half marathon day, an early alarm for an early race (6:30 am race start).  When I woke up, my legs felt better and I hope that it would last for 13 miles.  Nick and I headed to our carpool lot, then to the race.  I had to check my bag, but we also wanted to make sue we made it into the Half Fanatics picture before the race.  We had some difficulty with the picture but luckily that put us right by the bag check and some port-a-pots that didn't have huge lines.  This made it easy for me to take care of things while trying to organize the picture.  We got some pictures with some HF and MM with bad back lighting but time was running out.  Then, when I came out of the port-a-pot there was another picture being taken that I jumped into.  It turned out much better but Nick wasn't there to be in the picture.  The most difficult part of Sunday was getting into the corrals.  There were so many people on the sidewalks along the side of the corrals that we were inching towards our entrance.  It was really only 1 way traffic due to the amount of people and I felt bad for anyone trying to go the other way.  I finally made it into my corral and sighed with relief, now I just had to finish 13 hilly miles.

Half Fanatics Picture 1 (with Nick)

I was just hanging out in my corral, looking around to see if there was anyone I might talk to, and I saw one of my running buddies from home, Greg Watson.  I knew that quite a few of my friends were running the marathon or half marathon, but I honestly did not expect to see them unless we actually tried to meet up.  With about 20,000 runners at the race I didn't expect to see the dozen or so that I personally knew but there was Greg, right behind me in the same corral.  I went up to him and we starting chatting.  He was running the marathon and planning a pace that would probably be comfortable for me for the half so we decided to try to stick together while we could.  Honestly, having Greg there was a miracle.  I needed someone to help keep my pace from going crazy and to keep me accountable and he would be that person for me.  The Flying Pig course has the half and full stick together for about 8.5 miles before they split.  We hoped that we could stick together the whole time.  For the first few miles we talked the whole time.  All through Kentucky and downtown Cincinnati we chatted all about races and our local happenings.  But we knew what came after downtown, the hill that leads to Eden Park, the dreaded hill that is what everyone talks about.  It starts shortly after mile 5 and doesn't stop climbing until mile 8.  You get some flat portions, but then you get to climb again.  At this portion, both Greg and I started to struggle, but I decided that we were not going to lose each other.  If I could help him up the hill, it would help him relax for the rest of the hills in the marathon.  If he could help me up the hill, I would have a glorious downhill after we split up.  We were going to stick together and I told Greg so.  A few times, we doubted ourselves, thought we were going to lose each other, but in the end we made it to the top together and headed towards the split.  I wished Greg luck and thanked him for his company and we headed on our own races. 

All the Medals

The downhill was glorious but I was really feeling the exhaustion from the past two days.  I hated to do it, but I needed to stop and use a port-a-pot along the course.  It was urgent enough that I couldn't wait 3 miles to take care of it.  I continued on but the heat was rising and I was tiring.  I knew I would and could finish but I was hoping that I could still pull a good time at this race.  I walked when I felt I needed to, but I tried to push back to running as soon as I could.  I got to the last half mile of the race and knew that I was going to finish close to my goal (2:05).  In these last moments I saw a spectator handing out beer to the runners.  Now, I have never taken the beer offered by people at races before.  I don't know how it will effect me while running and it might be gross beer so I don't take it.  Today was different, I was not trying to PR, it was hot, I was going to finish the 3-way with extra cheese, and I was ready to celebrate!  I took the beer and it was amazing.  I ran that last chunk at a very good pace, finished around 2:10, and collected my final goodies from the challenge (2 medals, a charm, and the 3-way shirt).  I had successfully completed the 3-way with extra cheese!

Nick finished his half around 4:03, but he also completed the challenge (it was more of a challenge for him than me because of the back to back races on Saturday).

Final Thoughts
I loved this challenge series!  I want to do it again next year.  To me, this was a challenge because it was difficult on my body with trying to reserve energy but still compete.  It made me tired, but I didn't feel hopeless, I didn't feel like I stink at this.  In every marathon, I get to a point where I hate everything (myself for signing up, the world for having marathons, my legs, hills, you name it) but I didn't have that during this weekend.  It was tough but I was having fun the whole time.  I can see where I can make improvements in my training to make me better at something like this where I don't know how to make a marathon better.  If I train better for this, it can help me work on my speed, endurance, and my recovery without burning out my love of running.  I will see how my other challenges go, but I think I may have found my new favorite form of racing in the Flying Pig 3-way challenge (with extra cheese). 

See below for additional pictures of goodies.  If you want to know more about the races in detail (this blog is long enough as it is) or about me weekend, feel free to comment or contact me.

All the shirts

Little Kings Mile Goodies

10k medal, shirt, and bib

5k shirt, medal, and bib

Half Marathon shirt, medal, magnet, blanket, and bib

3-way with extra cheese goodies
(long sleeve semi-tech shirt)

That one time I bought a virtual race medal

Virtual Race - A race that you do on your own course, where and when it is convenient for you to do so.  Some virtual races require a participant to send in a record of completing the distance while others do not.  Some allow participants to complete the distance incrementally while others have the person complete the entire distance in the same workout.

There are many reasons why people complete virtual races and there are many reasons that they are organized.  A person could complete a virtual race because:

1. They just started exercising and the race is a motivation for them
2. It is their first race and they don't feel like they are ready/fast enough for a race in person
3. They support the charity that is being funded by the virtual race
4. They like the medal
5. They cannot get to the location of the race and the race has a virtual option

I'm sure there are many more reasons why someone would participate in a virtual race and this blog is not intended to offend those who participate in these races.

Personally, I do not like virtual races.  While I am a member of a group that sells virtual race medals, and I like the medals, to me, it is just buying a medal for a training run.  The exceptions would be if someone bought one for me as a gift, and presented it to me after a particularly difficult run or for super long distances that cannot be done in a single run (1000 miles in a year or 2017 miles a year).  I think that those are great uses for a virtual race medal.

The Virtual Race Medal

So, what made me buy a virtual race medal?  It was free (other than shipping so it cost $6).  I really like free stuff.  I also thought that I might be able to award it to one of my sons.  Mark had just started cross country and Enzo had expressed an interest in all races with bling, so I thought it would be a great way to get them out and running on Global Running Day.  All they had to run was a 5k and whichever child did that would get the medal.  I also considered giving it to my husband since he had not been training much recently.  I wanted him to get back to exercising again.

So, I ordered the medal, it arrived shortly before Global Running Day, and I was ready to award it to a worthy member of my family.  We all went to the Global Running Day group run that night where Mark and Enzo didn't run at all, Nick ran about 2 miles, and I ran 5 miles.  I was the only member of my family who met the requirements for the medal.... What do I do now?

I honestly did not feel like I should get a medal for a 5 mile training run, but no one else had earned it.  I claimed the medal as mine, but I hesitated to place it with my race medals.  To me, it wasn't a race.  For about a 1 month the medal sat on my nightstand, waiting to be given, waiting for a place to be.

It wasn't until the next month, a month where I attended a race to support my oldest but couldn't afford to run it myself, when I decided to give myself the medal.  The race I attended was actually a race I had done in the past.  It was the Piqua Optimist 5k.  I had completed it in 2011 as my 2nd 5k.  For my son, it was a cross country team race.  The members of the team got to run in the race for free and it was near the end of their summer conditioning so they could see how much they improved.  I cheered for Mark, took pictures of him running, and tracked the results.  It turns out, that if I had run I would have easily placed in my age group, probably 1st place.  While I enjoyed supporting my son, I was annoyed that I had been there, I could have run, and I would have placed in this race but I didn't get the chance to do so.  I know that there are many races that I do not run, where I could have placed and those don't bug me.  When I am right there and miss the opportunity I do get annoyed.  That was when I claimed the medal.  I admit that it made me feel better about missing the race.  I still don't feel like it belongs with my other medals, but it does make me feel better that I have claimed it.

Right now this medal hangs with my others.  I claim it and it is mine.  Will I ever get another virtual medal?  I don't know.  If it is a gift, I would really enjoy it.  If we did something special as a family to earn it, I would be happy to keep it as a memento of what we did together.  Do I hold them at the same level as my in person race medals?  I don't and I don't think that they will have the same meaning to me in the future either.  I still don't like virtual race medals but I will never badmouth a person who does value them because we all need our own motivation to get up and be active.

Ragnar PA - A Weekend Adventure

Team Photo

This story starts almost a year ago.  Last year I had seen running buddies post their photos from a Ragnar race and it looked fun.  I'm not sure which race they did, but it included the "Coffin Dodgers" and a bunch of other guys that I have run with.  I didn't think that I would ever run one.  I knew that an average pace needed to be kept by the team to finish, that it costs quite a bit of money, and the courses were difficult and included trails.  I thought I was too slow, poor, and inexperienced to run one so I never planned on running one.  At the beginning of the school year I told my students about myself, including the fact that I am a runner.  At the end of one class, a student came up to me and told me that her mom was putting together a Ragnar team and that she was looking for members of her team.  I appreciated that she asked, but I didn't think her mom wanted her to ask random runners to join her team.  Then, at open house a few weeks later the student's father asked me to join his wife's Ragnar team, they were persistent.  Later, I received an e-mail from this student's mom including questions about class and a P.S. about Ragnar, so I guess that she did actually want me on her team.

I generally like to keep my social life and my work life separate.  I don't friend parents of students or students on Facebook unless I was a friend with them before their child became my student.  I try to keep all my interactions with parents very professional and I know that when I run I talk about lots of things, not all of them professional.  I didn't want to risk saying something that I would regret in the course of a run with members of the community.  Now, part of the OTES (Ohio Teacher Evaluation System) is community involvement and since I do not live in the community I teach in, this can be difficult.  Therefore I also knew I could get more involved with the community by joining this team.  So, for these reasons and the cost, I was torn on whether I should join the team or not.  I told Lori (the mom) to keep me on her list, but I couldn't commit to joining the team just yet.

The months passed, I received e-mails about the team but was still torn, by January I had made a resolution to go out on my own, outside my comfort zone, and this convinced me to join Lori's team.  I was going to run Ragnar PA in June.  I weight trained, ran two-a-days, and worked on hills to prepare.  I really didn't plan my trip to the start, but I figured I would just drive out there.

It came to the week of the race and we couldn't afford the gas to get me to PA.  I was a little worried but Lori must have some ESP because she messaged me right when we figured out we didn't have enough money for gas in time and asked if I wanted to ride with some of the other Ohio runners who were carpooling.  I said yes and hoped that they could wait for me to chip in my part of the travel cost.

Ohio Runners on the Road

Race Weekend
I drove down to meet Raul and Camilo, the two Ohio runners I would be riding with.  They were also the only 2 men on our team full of women.  Once we were all there we loaded ourselves and our stuff in Camilo's car and headed to Pennsylvania.  It took about 8 hours to get to Lancaster, PA and we left a little later than we had planned to.  Our team was having a team dinner at 5:30 and it looked like we wouldn't make it to the dinner.  We had to stop for lunch and gas and the toll roads slowed us down a little.  I texted Lori to let her know that we were running late, we didn't expect the team to wait for us, but we didn't want them to worry either.  We ended up arriving at 6:30 to dinner, an hour late, we expected the rest of the team to be done eating and that we would meet them at the hotel.  It turns out that they had waited for a bit, just long enough that our orders came out very close together.  At dinner we got to meet our teammates.  Everyone identified by which number they were in the order of the legs.  I had requested and received position 6 which would have me running the 6th, 18th, and 30th legs.  Runners 1-6 would be in van 1 and runners 7-12 would be in van 2.  I would get the baton from runner 5 (Shannon) and pass it to runner 7 (Emily).  Since everyone identified by their number, I learned their legs before their names.  The main people I talked to at dinner were the van 1 runners, I would be spending 36 hours on the road with them.  They were Lantz (1), Jen (2), Cullen (3), Raul (4), and Shannon (5).  It turns out each van had a designated man.

Van Decor

After dinner we headed to the hotel where Lantz's sister, who lives in Lancaster, had left all of us gift bags that included products made in Lancaster (the pretzels were awesome!).  We checked in and headed out to decorate the vans.  Part of the Ragnar experience is decorating your vans to make them easy to find and to represent your team.  Our team, Two Men and a Van Fulla Divas, was inspired by a Michigan moving company (Two Men and a Truck) and the team that Lori had run with in the Virginia area (Running Divas).  Our decorations included a lot of pink.... I don't like pink.... but it is what it is.  We added a tiara to the front of the van and pink tulle on the windows and handles.  We drew on the windows with window markers including our team name, slogan, runners names, and other fun designs.  We also had to put magnets on so that we can tag other vans with our magnets and hopefully collect the magnets of many other teams along the way.  After decorating, it was time to sleep.  We has a 5:15 start time and still had to check our team in beforehand.  We decided to let van 2 sleep in while van 1 got started, unfortunately, I was the only van 1 runner in my room so I had to make sure I was ready on my own and didn't miss the rest of my van leaving.

Van 1

The Race
The next morning we all woke up and met at the van.  We did our best to cram all our things into the van, including the coffin (Lantz's luggage), and make sure that me all had access to our materials when we needed them.  My bag ended up being buried because I was runner 6.  I think the idea was that people would move their things out of the way as they completed their legs, therefore I would have easy access by the time I finished my leg.  It didn't actually work that way.  People exchanged their items, then put their bag back on top of the pile.  I'm not sure that there was a better way to put things in, but someone needs to design a 15 person van with some storage space for stuff as well as 1 people.  6 runners, their bags, and a cooler took up a lot of space in that van.

Exchange Hug

We headed to the start, went through the safety briefing, checked in to receive our bibs, flags, goodies, and van stickers, and sent our first runner out on the first leg.  20 teams started at each start time so it was a small group of leg 1 runners every 15 minutes.  The course mainly stayed along roads where we either ran on sidewalk or on the shoulder of the road.  Our vans could stop, safely, and cheer for us or give us support, water, or food along the way.  Usually the vans followed a similar route as the runners to get to the next exchange so we could cheer for runners from the car windows as we drove by.  At each exchange we met other teams and tagged their vans.  We got quite a few tags two.  Each exchange was like a small village of van dwelling people, all cheering for the runners coming in.  To exchange, there was a slap bracelet.  The bracelet didn't have a chip, and there were no timing mats, but there were volunteers checking each team at most of the exchanges.  Our team was going to slap the bracelet on and then hug to exchange to the next runner.

For the first 5 legs, I was a spectator.  I cheered for my teammates, cheered for other runners, took pictures, rang my impressively loud cowbell, and tagged other vans.  During the 2nd leg, an 8 mile leg, our van (except Jen) went grocery shopping.  We had a cooler in our van and some Gatorade, water, bananas, and bagels but we would need some substantial food while on the road and in the middle of the night.  Now, I know I am a picky eater, but I didn't want to be too pushy.  I wanted to make sure I had food that I would eat without taking up a large chunk of the food budget.  Our trip through the store was like Billy in The Family Circus.  Every time we thought of a food item we went directly to it even if it passed by other items that we came back to pick up later in the same trip.  We got a lot of hummus, which isn't my favorite.  I can eat it with chips but they weren't getting chips.  I asked what they were going to do with the hummus and they said they put it on the tortillas when they make a wrap (involuntary gag!).  I didn't mean to gag, but I did, and that let them know that their staple food items might not work for me.  We ended up getting a wide variety and everyone seemed to have a few things to eat.  Apparently we didn't get enough hummus though.

Then, we got to my turn to run.  Runner 6 had a 6 mile hard leg, a 3 mile easy leg, and a 5.3 mile moderate leg.  I was doing my hardest and longest leg first at 11:00 am.  Luckily this summer has been mild so far and this weekend had beautiful weather so I wasn't running in a heat advisory close to noon.  I was very nervous though.  Our team had fallen behind our predicted paces already by the time we got to my leg.  Lantz got lost on leg 1 (it needed a lot more signs, about a dozen runners got lost) and a few of our other runners couldn't keep their pace on the hills (it seemed like the course took every hill it could take).  I wanted to keep my pace as close to promised as I could.  I said I could run 9:30 and at the slowest I wanted to keep my pace around 10:00 so we didn't lose any more time.  I had rested my feet for the last week but I was worried about my plantar faciitis flaring up.  This 1st leg would be telling, could I do my part for this team with this injury?

I got out and got ready for my first leg.  Shannon, the runner before me, generally had shorter legs (her total was around 10 miles for all 3 legs) so I knew I had to be ready to go as soon as she was running.  We hopped to the next exchange and I waited for my turn.  Our van had a group text going and, as we were running, we were supposed to text the group when we had 1 mile to go in our leg.  There were only 2 types of signs on the course: directions signs (turn right, go straight, move to the other side of the road) and 1 mile to go signs.  Since each leg is different lengths and the course total length doesn't matter the way it does in a marathon, the only distance you need to know is 1 mile to go, so that your team knows when to expect you to come in.  Right after I got to the exchange I got the text that Shannon was a mile out, perfect timing.  She came in and I was off.

Amish country, that was the first part of the course.  Many runners had run past horses and buggies and through some "fresh country air" and my leg was through this area as well.  I started out in a city, with roads to cross, lots of turns, and some steep and sharp hills.  When I left the city I was in Amish country.  I learned, last year at Adams County, that Amish roads don't tend to have much shade and this was true in Pennsylvania as well.  I could feel the heat of the pavement through my shoes and it burned.  Luckily, that was the worst pain I encountered because my feet were generally behaving.  I had a little pain in my arches, but it didn't last long.  My course involved a lot of rolling hills and the downhills, though fast were rougher than going up.  Since my leg was later in the day, I was worried that I would run out of fuel while I was running.  I asked my teammates to meet me on the course with some of my Swedish Fish just in case.  I got to about mile 3 when I saw our team van.  I was excited, going downhill, and slightly hungry.  When I got to the van, no one was outside and there were no fish.  I hollered at them to get their attention and another team cheered for me but by the time my teammates got out to get to me, I was gone.  I was feeling good and didn't want to stop or turn around.  I only had 3 miles to go on that leg so I knew I could make it. I got to the 1 mile to go mark and texted my team, took a drink and resumed running.  My last mile brought me back into a town where I ran on a road with semis flying by to a gas station, where I went behind the station on grass (I hate grass), down stairs (why stairs?) onto a bike path, through more grass (grrr) to my exchange.  Since I was the last runner in my van, my exchanges were always large exchanges.  These exchanges had the full team there because 1 van was done and the other van was taking over.  Since this was the official start and check-in for van 2 it was a HUGE exchange.  They had a giant inflatable arch, tents with goodies, a Ragnar shop, and all the members of all the teams that would be exchanging soon.  It was exciting to end my first leg here.  I crossed the exchange and looked for runner 7 on my team.  They announced my bib number as I approached so she should have been there, but she wasn't.  It turns out that my text didn't send, Emily wasn't expecting me for at least 10 more minutes and had gone to the bathroom.  Luckily they rushed her back out and we got here onto the course.  It made the exchange less exciting, but my stupid phone can take the blame for that.  I did keep a 10:16 pace and I was happy with that.

Shhhh Runners Sleeping

After the exchange, I met back up with my van, shopped (picked up a few visors - they're awesome), got my race shirt (in medium, so I made an exchange later), and got some free muscle milk.  Our van was now on a break.  We went out and got some lunch then headed to the next major exchange from leg 12 to leg 13.  Even though we cheered on and followed on van 1 runners, only van 2 was allowed at the next 5 exchanges.  This was our time to nap and recover to prepare for our next legs of running.  Exchange 12 had a large grassy area full of runners sleeping in sleeping bags, on those air beds that you fill up with wind, and just on the ground.  I was planning on sleeping in the van, save packing room by just bringing a blanket, but Shannon let me use her inflatable bed.  It was weird, but I was grateful that I had something to relax on.  The day was cool and clear with a nice breeze and while I didn't really sleep, I did rest and stretch.  When I got out of the inflatable bed 5 hours later, I did feel refreshed and ready to run again.

We had a slight miscommunication with van 2 and thought they were going to finish an hour earlier than they planned.  We packed up, got ready, and realized we had more time than we thought we did, so we hung out.  When most runners finish their legs, they change into some non-running clothes while the other members run then change back into running clothes before their next leg, usually during the break.  Being runner 6 I didn't know what to change into after my leg, my next running outfit or a non-running outfit.  I ended up changing into a non-running outfit just for the break, then at the end of break I put on my next running outfit.  Once van 2 finished, we were off again.

Perfect Nighttime Sighting

The second legs of the race encompassed most of the nighttime running.  Our van started around 5-6pm and it only got darker as we ran.  We donned our headlamps and reflective vests to cheer on our teammates and run.  Night also means quiet hours.  We didn't want to disturb the local residents so we couldn't cheer too loud after dark.  By the time Jen was done, it was getting dark and we all needed the lights to see all the time, whether running or not.  Before it got too dark, I kept tagging.  I even threw a magnet at a moving vehicle and it stuck to the side.  They stopped when I did that and someone yelled that they were coming after me, but it was all in good fun.  Both Cullen and Raul had some trails on their legs that went long the river.  I thought they meant bike trails because this Ragnar is a road Ragnar, but I was mistaken.  We sent Shannon off on her leg at a church where they were serving coffee and hot chocolate.  Again, she had a shorter leg so I was nervous about getting to the next exchange in time.  We didn't rush out of there, like during leg 5, but we still made it in time.  My exchange had no volunteers and it wasn't lit up.  It was left to other runners to guide the runners coming in to the exchange.  I saw Shannon coming and yelled for her.  She came right to me and we had a clean exchange.

I started leg 2 so positive.  This was my easiest and shortest leg and it was a cool night so I should be able to keep a 9:30 or better pace to help my team.  I started on a nice, smooth, flat road through a park.  I could hear water rushing on my side when I crossed a bridge, but I couldn't see it.  I could see the outlines of the trees overhead too.  Had it not been 10pm, I'm sure this would be a beautiful place to run.  Even at night, I could see other runners around me and clearly see the direction signs.  Just before the 1 mile to go sign, I started running on gravel and I hoped that it would only be for a short while.  We started a new group text after the exchange 6 disaster and my texts would send in this group.  I got to the sign and texted my group.  That's when the uphill dirt trail started.  I had been keeping 9:40s on this leg up until this point.  When I hit the trail it dropped down to the 11:00s.  I did my best, but I was avoiding rocks, roots, ruts, and anything else that could trip me and that does tend to slow me down.  I finished on a paved downhill but the damage was done.  Emily and I had another rough exchange.  She was ready this time, but I couldn't get the bracelet off my wrist.  I kept a 10:16 average again, but I had hoped to do a lot better.  I could tell that Lori was worried about our pace too.  We were about 2 hours behind where we should have been.  If we didn't pick up the pace, there was a chance that we wouldn't finish before they shut down the course and the finish line.  She wanted more regular updates on our runners so that she could plan so that we would finish in time.

We marked off our legs as we finished them.
Waited for daylight to mark the second legs.

Now we were on a break again.  10:30 at night, the perfect time to get some sleep.  We drove to exchange 24 and prepared to sleep.  While the coolness of the day was nice it led to a very cold night.  There was a school at the exchange that had restrooms but we weren't supposed to sleep in the school.  Most of our team slept in the van.  At one point Shannon, Cullen, and Jen decided to try to sleep outside and they were freezing.  Jen and Cullen moved into the gym and hid in a corner (they weren't the only ones that migrated into the building) and they tried to wake Shannon to go in with them, but she was out.  Even in the van, my feet were freezing and it was difficult to sleep.  I ended up with 2 hours 38 minutes of sleep according to my watch.  It would have to be enough.  Shannon was shivering we she got back in the van and we were worried about how cold she had gotten.

We all woke up, changed, on got ready for our next legs.  While we were doing that, it began to rain, and the usual behavior of the whole van going to the exchange dwindled to the runner and a buddy.  It was still dark, around 4 am when van 1 took over again.  We were parked on the far side of the parking area and decided to drive Lantz to her exchange.  Well, we ended up driving away from the exchange.  The exchange was in a grassy area behind the schools that we couldn't see from where we parked.  Eventually we got our runner to the right spot, but lost even more time in the process.  Now we knew we weren't going to make the cut-off.

Ragnar is very different from traditional races in many ways.  One of those ways is the adjustments for teams who are moving too fast or too slow.  Not every exchange is ready to go at 5:00 am Friday morning.  Each one is open for a number of hours in which all teams are supposed to come through.  If a team is risking heading into an unprepared leg with no exchange ready, they will be held back and can only go when the course is ready.  The time they are held is then deducted from their overall time.  Teams going too slowly can skip a leg or double up runners to catch up.  To double up runners, 2 runners from the same van with similar mileage run 1 leg together, then the van skips the leg of the second runner and started the next runner at their exchange.  The team still covers the 200ish miles but can cut a few hours off of their time.  This is allowed, you just have to notify Race Command and the volunteers.  Our team would have to do this to finish in time.  I didn't like that we were going to do this.

Jen and Cullen finishing their combined leg

Jen and Cullen would share Jen's leg, Shannon and I would share my leg, and Lori would share a leg with someone in her van.  Honestly, I wouldn't have shared with Shannon if we were doing her leg because I wouldn't have felt like I finished my race.  I didn't spend $600 and travel to another state to not finish the race I signed up for.  I think that Shannon felt similar, but we were both being flexible for the team.  

We were still tired since we hadn't gotten much sleep.  While we were waiting for Lantz to come in, Raul dozed off behind the wheel (while the car was parked) and bonked his head on the horn.  That woke us up for a bit.  Lantz came in, drenched from the rain, and Jen and Cullen went out.  The next exchange had no port-o-pots.  This was a problem because everyone had to pee.  While waiting, we ended up driving Raul to a gas station along the next leg to hit the bathroom.  There was a long line so he was going to be there for a while.  We decided that we would pick him up after picking up the runners, since this was the leg that was going to be skipped.  We headed back to the exchange and waited.  Now Shannon had to pee and we were getting worried about Jen and Cullen.  We headed out on their leg to find them.  They still had more than a mile to go, so we continued behind them to find a restroom.  We stopped at another gas station for Shannon.  Then we headed back to the exchange.  Raul was good, but worried.  He texted to find out how much longer it would take, but there was hardly any cell service at this exchange too.  Jen and Cullen finished drenched.  They were sprayed by semis as they ran, but they got it done.  We picked Raul up from the gas station and headed to his start.  He went off on his own, we picked him up and the rain was starting to let up.  Then we went to my start, our last exchange.

A view from the top

Leg 3 was a moderate course 5.3 miles long.  Shannon is a bit slower than me, but not so slow that it would frustrate me.  She keeps an 11:00 pace and I run that pace in training with many of my friends.  We needed to stick together and finish. The one bad thing about the rain clearing up was the humidity.  It got humid quickly!  I started wearing a long sleeve shirt and Shannon started in a jacket.  Those were shed within the first 1.5 miles.  The first 2 miles also included a mountain.  500 ft of climb in about 1 mile, then the 500 ft decent in about a mile on the other side.  The road is called Summer Mountain Road, so yeah, it is a mountain.  I tried to motivate Shannon up the mountain, but it was a tough one.  We got to the top and took pictures because it was beautiful.  On our way down I used every scrap of self control to slow myself down.  I tend to fly down hills and Shannon slows down.  Even restraining myself, I ended up losing her and having to wait at the bottom.  Through it all, I was happy to have Shannon with me.  It was a hot, humid, hard (labeled moderate) leg and I was glad I didn't have to do it alone.  We ran with another pair of runners that was doubling up as well so it made me feel a little better about our situation.  Shannon and I stopped to take a picture with the 1 mile left sign, since it was truly our last mile, and sent it to the group.  Our course then led downhill to a turn instead of up the next hill ahead of us.  As we got closer, I noticed that the vans making the turn were also going uphill, we had an uphill finish.  We turned and the other pair, now ahead of us, was cutting through some gravel.  The older lady in the pair fell in the gravel and we stopped to check on her.  She was fine and kept running.  Shannon and I came to the last exchange where I finally had a smooth exchange.  It was basically at a mud-pit, but we handed the bracelet smoothly to Emily and hugged her as we sent her off.  Van 1 was done!  But the race wasn't over.

Apparently, while Shannon and I were out running, Raul had inhaled a lot of the Hummus, so every last bit was being offered to him.  We could have gotten 5 bowls and they all would have been eaten.

Hotel Pool

While van 2 ran their final legs van 1 was free to check into our post-run hotel, a casino in the Poconos.  Getting to the hotel proved to be amusing.  We were all slap-happy and there was a hairpin turn that we just couldn't hit.  We ended up doing a u-turn at a gas station to go the right way.  Then we saw a sign for the hotel and turned right.  We were supposed to go straight, but we were tired and still recovering from the hairpin turn. After following the road we ended up back at the U-turn gas station by the hairpin turn.  We cracked up!  we finally got to the hotel where the parking lot was jammed full of cars.  We could successfully check into 1 of the 3 rooms, but the captain (in van 2) had to be there to check into the other ones.  Lantz, Jen, Cullen, and Shannon all checked in, got showers, and changed into their finish line clothes.  They let me bring my stuff up to their room so I could change my clothes in comfort instead of in the van.  Cullen and I were done first, so we met back up with Raul and hung out by the pool waiting for the rest of van 1 before we headed out to meet van 2 at the finish line.  It is odd to be done with a race but not yet across the finish line.

The finish

Van 1 finished cleaning up, ate some ham and turkey wraps, and headed back out to the finish line.  The finish line is a big party.  All the tents from Exchange 6 and the start, plus some free food tents and medals!  Each team gets 1 pizza and our van picked up the pizza for our team.  Van 2 hadn't gotten there yet and we thought that they would be there soon.  We took turns wandering around the tents.  I exchanged my shirt, Shannon shopped, Raul had some beer, everyone found something to investigate.  We each ate our slice and waited for the rest of the team.  When van 2 arrived we were in position to runner our last runner in.  We were positioned about a tenth of a mile from the finish line and watching the runners as they came in.  They joined us and got ready to go.  Originally we had said that we would meet runner 12 at the 1 mile to go point, but we couldn't get out there in time.  She was expecting us to be 1 mile out and when we weren't, she didn't expect us to run her in.  As she approached the finish she happened to be near 2 other runners.  Their teams came out to join them and she got swamped by them.  By trying to avoid the first team, she ended up caught in the second team where she was whapped in the head with a safety flag.  She was angry at this point and couldn't even see us.  One team member had her tutu, so that she could put it on for the finish, but she just bolted for that finish line.  The whole team was caught off guard and most of us tried to catch her so that we could finish together but we ended up scattering our team across the line.  It made for an exciting ending though.  Unfortunately, in the chaos, the pizza ended up left behind, on the ground and no one on van 2 really want it by that point.

Medal

We got our medals, our team picture, and solved our medal puzzle.  Everyone still got time to wander the finish area some more too.  I got a leg massage.

We headed back to the hotel, after stopping to get some wine, and getting caught at the hairpin turn again to get some dinner and relax.  I finally got into my room, which I was sharing with some of the same girls that I was with at the first hotel, and got a shower.  I was caked in salt from sweating and I could feel it coming off.  It felt so good and I didn't even realize I was that salt covered.  I had been using Shower Pills after each leg and they kept me feeling cleaner without me realizing how nasty I was getting.

Medal Puzzle

Those of us staying in the hotel (it wasn't the whole team) met for dinner, had drinks, and finally got some good sleep.  The next morning we cleaned the paint off the van.  I claimed the magnets from tagging and we headed back to Lancaster in van 1, with Camilo added.  Now that we were rested, we could appreciate all the goofy things we did along the race.  We reminisced and shared storied between vans.  Once back in Lancaster, Raul, Camilo, and I started the 8 hour trip back to Ohio.  We all made it home safe, and checked in when we did.  Raul shared that the back of the medal glows in the dark and we have been sending some random texts to each other since that day Van 1 PA Forever.

Final Thoughts
I enjoyed this race.  I enjoyed meeting new runners, running in a new state, tagging vans, and sharing this amazing experience with wonderful people.  I think that Lori and I are now friends and I don't think I did anything to hurt the professional relationship that I had with her when her daughter was my student (I hope I didn't).  I enjoyed my legs, even the mountain.  They were challenging but beautiful and it helped me see Pennsylvania in a way that few people do.  I don't think I'll be doing another Ragnar soon, if ever.  The cost was just way too much for my budget and it will be a while until our finances recover from that.  If I do another, it might be trails because those have a lower cost due to camping instead of renting vans.  I wish I had known more people on the team and that more people had known me.  They were all sweet, welcoming, nice, funny, awesome people and I felt like I was a part of van 1, but I still felt out of place when interacting with the whole team (that could just be me and my social paranoia though).  I also wish that I could have kept my paces better.  I'm still disappointed that we doubled up, but looking at the results, I know we had to do it.  Our finish time was 36:25:39 and the last finishers were 37:32:12 and we cut off 3 hours by combining.  We wouldn't have finished in time if we hadn't combined.  It was an amazing experience and I was glad to be a part of it and glad to have made so many new running friends.  I hope we see each other in the future at other races and if not, I will still be cheering for all of you.  Good job Runners!!!