This is a recap of the first leg I ran during this past weekend’s Ragnar Relay. If you missed my overall recap of the weekend, you can find that HERE.
I was runner number 9 on our team for the DC Ragnar Relay. So my first leg of the relay was leg #9. It was 4.5 miles long as was described as “moderate.” It started in Hancock, MD and ran through local residential roads (halfway between rural and suburban) into the town of Hancock. The leg had rolling hills on winding roads, and no van support.
Around 4:30 PM Friday afternoon, Debbie handed the slap bracelet off to me (after running a leg that looked like something out of the Blue Ridge Half Marathon course profile), and I was off on my first leg of the relay!
My first leg pretty much flew by. I ran a quick pace (for me), thanks to all of the excitement of finally being out there running. This first leg actually looked very similar to the types of roads I run on at home, which means I had to be pretty careful about oncoming cars (none of the roads are closed during a Ragnar Relay).
It had some rolling hills, with two steep challenges. However, I think all three of my legs were much milder than some of the ones other runners tackled.
It also had one water station, since it was a no van support leg. The map indicated the water stop was supposed to be just before mile 3, but it was actually around 2.2 miles. The volunteer was telling everyone “one and a half miles to go!” which was not right. Not sure if he thought he was actually 3 miles into the leg or what, but either way I was grateful he was out there so that we could run! I took it one mile at a time and before I knew it I found myself at this lovely sign:
There weren’t mile markers along the course, but they always had a “one mile to go” sign towards the end of each leg. They were usually accurate within about 0.1 to 0.2 miles. After one last climb it was downhill into the exchange area, where I handed off to Chuck. It was so much fun running down into this area with everyone cheering!
I finished my first leg with a 9:06/mile average pace. After handing off the slap bracelet, I took an easy walk back to the van to cool down and did some stretching. Then we headed to the next exchange to prepare to send Barry off!
My next leg of the relay would not be until roughly 3 AM and would be my longest, at nearly 7 miles long. It was the one I was most worried about! Stay tuned to find out how it went 🙂
Turkey Runner 
I love that last picture of you that Roger took! That’s one happy girl there!
I also enjoy reading recaps of races I’ve run, and reliving it all over again through the eyes of someone else!
Yep – that’s true happiness right there, no posing. I’ve been enjoying reading your Ragnar recaps for the same reason!
Just got in from my red eye (LAX to IAD) this morning. Last week at this time we were decorating the van and getting ready to head out. What fun. If the cruiser don’t do it again next year, perhaps I will find another team to chaperone!
LUD.
And now last week at this time we were stumbling around the house trying to figure out how to recover! Any team would be lucky to have you as their driver.
Roger, I agree with Meagan that any team would be lucky to have you as a driver, but the Cruisers have dibs! It’s like you were our team Dad, even though Bill and I are older than you!
You look great in all these photos! Relays are so fun, aren’t they? And congrats on your speedy run!
Thanks, Amy! They are a lot of fun, albeit very exhausting.
Those are some great shots of you running! I’m glad to hear this was such a comfortable run for you. Can’t wait to hear about that nighttime run!
Bill and my Dad did great jobs as team photographers 🙂 That nighttime run recap will be ready on Wednesday!
Those really are some great race photos! How on earth do you manage to look that good when you run?? I bet it felt good to do something different after all the structured training you’ve been doing!
Haha, thanks for the compliment! It’s all thanks to the sparkly headband, I think 🙂 It did feel good to just run the relay and get a break from structured training… although I’ve paid for it this week.
Congrats on finishing Ragnar! I ran Great River this August, and it was such a blast. A hot, exhausting, ridiculously crazy blast! Looking forward to reading the rest of your recap!
Cool! Ragnar relays are such a blast – although they are also exhausting! I’ve got my nighttime leg recap up this morning 🙂