Are you ready for a POST? Get comfortable.
After driving two days with my kids, I dropped them off with Grandma in Roosevelt, hopped back in the car on Wednesday, drove to Park City, parked it, and carpooled with some other girls to Logan. WHY did I do this? you ask. Two words: RAGNAR RELAY. It all started almost a year ago when my sister, Heather, and her SLC friend, Julia, decided to gather up 10 of their friends to run a relay spanning 198 miles from Logan to Park City over a day, a night, and a day. Enter: me, Sheena, Stephanie, Kathy, Tiffany, Amy, Rebecca, Jodie, Denise, and Crishelle. Twelve insane people without a clue. We met up for dinner at Firehouse in Logan. Commence: crazy. After dinner we decorated our van. Our team name? Sassy Pants On! We had fun with that.
The "cow valve" refers to my awesome new aortic valve that made this run possible for me! Woot! It was such a blast getting together with my main girl, H-Dawg. We do not see each other enough!!! Three exclamation marks there. That is the extent of the sister deprivation. It needs to change.
Tiffany forgot the cowbell but brought a suitable replacement called Tinkerbell.
Also good to prepare for 36 hours of sweating, no showering, and sitting in close quarters together. Thanks, Tiff!
Sassy sisters. We invented sass. Or maybe it's silly we invented.
I present to you Van 1: Martha, Sheena, Heather, Kathy, Stephanie, Tiffany. The latter 3 are my friends from Phoenix and Heather and I grew up with Sheena in Roosevelt ... also, Heather and I are sisters. Der-DER.
Some of us stayed the night at Kathy's parents' home in Hyrum, Utah. Her dad has turned their backyard into an adorable little Western main street. This bunkhouse is where the grand kids sleep/live.
Organizing food for the days ahead.
Heather's too happy at 5 am.
I was awake enough to salute the flag and sing one line of God Bless America ... or maybe just the three words "God bless America."
Isn't this house an adorable slice of 1950s Americana? I want to live there. Also, my kids need to live in a bunkhouse.
Good morrrrrnnniiing. Starting line is USU Fieldhouse. With four former Aggies in the van, people were spazzing down memory lane.
Honey Buckets to the rescue at least 25 times a day. Pee clear or go home!
Logan is lovely. It could also be renamed Chillsville.
We are special.
Tiff was runner one!
Here she goes.
And here's where I start condensing ... and maybe posting more pictures of myself than anyone else.
There were exchanges and exhaling.
Kathy groped the mustang at her old high school.
Heather ran some country roads that included tractors and hay bales for our viewing pleasure.
A real relay-er lunges into it.
High five, sister!
This run was not fun, but let's pretend it is.
Sheena's about to inhale dust for at least 5 miles. She came prepared.
It's hot. Heather is bonkees.
Go, Sheena, go, you animal!
Sightseeing while Stephanie runs.
A certain downhill gravel road jacked Stephanie's ankle. Boo.
Pigging out at Pat's while Van 2 runs.
We met up at the next exchange at Snowbasin. Here we are catching a little R&R before our van takes off again.
Amy, the last runner of Van 2, came in and it was our turn to work our magic again.
Go Tiff! Too bad that old man passed you on the way down. Don't be mad. ;)
Heather reminds us to pee clear or go home. It cannot be emphasized enough.
Kathy & Heather exchange.
Kath and Steph photo bombing me.
Heather and I got the serendipitous and special opportunity to run our second legs through Morgan, Utah, where my mom grew up. I even ran past the house where she lived and also where her father was born and lived his whole life as a dairy farmer. SO. MANY. MEMORIES. It was truly something I will never forget.
Here I'm saying, "We're running for Woodrow!" That's our grandpa. This exchange was actually at the church house where my mom grew up going.
It was getting dark and I was getting blurry.
Here's the picture I stopped and snapped on my iPod as I was running past (it was darker because it was around 9:30 pm, but I added a lighter filter on Instagram). The old house! Where we'd meet my cousins and have all sorts of fun. My mom told me today she still owns 200+ acres of this land. Who knew? Now I need to buy the house back and renovate it so we can all meet up here on a regular basis.
I passed the "baton" (snap bracelet) onto Sheena around 10 pm at Morgan High. The girl taking up too much of the picture on the right ran passed me and walked about 6 times. It was like the tortoise (me, slow and steady) and the hare (her, fast/stop/fast/stop) except at the end she pulled in front like the idiot ninja she thought she was. I hope she feels awesome about herself. I'm glad I have a picture of her to keep my bitterness right at the surface.
Next up: Steph! She ran up a beastly mountain next to Echo Reservoir and ended around midnight. On a swollen ankle! Amazeballs.
Oh, hey, North Summit High School choir room! This is the morning after we slept approximately 2-3 hours. I slept 2, but others may have done better. The room was packed with bodies. It was surreal. Then I had eggs and ham in the cafeteria that smelled like ammonia for breakfast. Say wha?
Next up: Oakley, Utah to meet Van 2 and finish up our final legs of the race!
Amy's done, Tiff begins. Here we go! Running on fumes from here on out.
Crisp Utah mornings never disappoint. Ever.
Tiff and Kathy exchange...
Tiff is happy to be DONE. Can you tell?
Heather does a jig.
Heather sets the vibe. Another great photo bomb by Steph.
She had continuous, gnarly up and down for 7.7 miles. She makes it look so fun!
Kathy, doing what she does best, which is .... ???
Prancercising to the exchange of course!
Man, H-Dawg owned those hills.
Posing over Jordanelle while I ran.
Thumbs up! The end is in sight!
Also in sight, these:
And I'm DONE. Hallelujah.
Steph was the last runner!
And Van 1 was officially DONEZO.
Onto the reward: burgers and shakes!
And then to our Park City hotel to wait out Van 2's runs, sleep a tad, then onto the finish line.
The finish line was at Park City High School. We waited for Amy to come in, and we ran with her around 1/4 of the track. Team Sassy Pants ON indeed! What a great group of women.
Finally, some light reading with my medal before bedtime. The Ragnar Race Bible/BoM ...It was our light in the wilderness, our burning bush, our ....ZZzzzzzzZZZzzzzzzzz.
Thanks, Team SPO for an unforgettable 36 hours. So. Much. Laughing. The End. Der- DER.
