There were 572 teams who ran Ragnar Relay Las Vegas; the official results say we came in 10th overall.
We came in FIRST ULTRA TEAM, men or women, as well!
1st women’s team to finish (regular or ultra team) with a time of 25:58:07.
That’s an average pace of 7:53 for 197 miles. I have to say I’m pretty dang impressed… even though McKayla isn’t and Eric isn’t either.
It’s hard to compare Ragnar SoCal and Vegas because the courses and weather were so different…
{Emily starting the race at 8500 feet elevation at a ski resort}
I really underestimated the course (I thought Vegas was all flat like the Strip?! probably wouldn’t have hurt to look at an elevation chart) and the wind – there were gusts up to 60 mph in some places.
Everyone got hit with a nice, strong headwind at some point on their legs and all you could do is put your head down, try to move forward, watch your pace climb, and rock a snuggie…
The hills were tough. I think I had generally easy legs in SoCal so a 3 mile hill climb at the end of my 16 miler was an (un)pleasant surprise. Sarah seemed to get long hills, like 8 miles of incline, in every one of her runs so I can’t complain. I mean, I’ll try, of course…
The great part about the hills were the killer declines – Emily ran her first 10 miles downhill in 60 minutes!
I ran the first 10 miles of my 16 miler which were almost all downhill in 1:11:55. I felt like I was breaking the speed of sound barrier, but that could have just been all the wind in my ear.
But as tough as the course was, it was also beautiful – nothing like the Vegas you think of.
It was hard – running 200 miles with very minimal sleep is physically hard but mentally tough too. That “OMG this is so exciting!” feeling at 1:30pm when you’re at the start is gone by 1:30am when you’re gearing up for your second long run in the dark.
But we had Kristina and Lauren who were like little tiny metronomes: they were the 5th and 6th runners and just went to work and laid it down consistently fast every single mile.
All business.
Well, not all business…
Emily, Lauren, and Sarah getting down to business or doing their business in the pink portapotties.
We had a really competitive, fast team obviously, and I know we all wanted to perform to the best of our abilities and not let the team down. I’m sure we all put that extra pressure on ourselves to do so; I know I sure did.
Heck, we even practiced the sprinter’s handoff… no lollygagging around here.
But just like Ragnar SoCal (you were missed Pam, Chacha and Nicole!) what made it so much fun, besides free pizza at the finish, was the people on the team.
{Kristina and Margot, hungry, tired and possibly delirious}
If you’re going to go through the highs and lows of a relay, do it with people you like. Or at least people you can take pictures of and make fun of…
Trying to copy Sarah’s pose while she’s off dying, running her last leg up hill and into the wind. We’re good teammates, what can I say?
The race would have been infinitely more difficult without our two drivers Brian and Lee. I’m almost positive something is wrong with Brian to drive for us TWICE now.
THANK YOU GUYS! And I hope your bromance is thriving and well without 6 smelly runner girls around talking nonstop.
And another big THANK YOU to our two sponsors Compex and Pro Compression.
I don’t think it’s possible to perform at a high level for 38 miles without taking recovery seriously and we did that. The Compex e-stim machine allowed all of us to get stretched out/massaged when we didn’t have time or space to do either.
And it helped remove lactic acid which is key to recovering faster to go run your next leg 6 hours later.
Now that I have pretty much stolen all of Lauren’s pictures, go check out her recap and the others because everyone tells the story a little differently and focuses on different things. And I doubt anyone talks about myself as much as I do.
So…. what relay should we do next??
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<3.
Miss you!
The terrain around Vegas is no joke. I have done a race there, out by the lake and up the three sisters it was brutal. Plus it is always windy out there in the desert. So major kudos for you girls for rocking such a killer pace. That is amazing! Congrats!
Check out Bourbon Chase in Kentucky! It is an awesome fall race. It would be worth the travel for sure. I live in the area and will be doing it next year for the 3rd time. I would be more than happy to give you some tips if you head this way. It feels up in a matter of hours so you will have to register quick. Race is in mid October next year and registration will probably be early January.
Awesome job ladies and congrats on the W! I’m hoping that next year I get/make on a team to do a Ragnar. *cross fingers*
Congratulations, you guys did great.
Those hills sound rough, but at least you had fun people to spend your downtime with! Sounds like a good time.
You girls did great! I can’t imagine ever even thinking about doing something that challenging. I totally would have thought Vegas would be flat, windy and dry.
Congrats on the Relay win!!
So glad you all had a blast, even with windy conditions and a difficult route. You ROCKED it!
I’d love to try out a relay. Time to come up with enough friends to make it happen!
You guys did awesome! It’s my dream to do a relay maybe some day
You are a badass! Congrats on the killer run and the results to brag about.
I am curious how the van worked. Did he drive behind the runner slowly like jaws? Or did he drop off the runner and drive on ahead and they caught up? It seems like he’d need to stay with you for safety reasons.
the vans aren’t allowed to “shadow” the runners bc of safety/road reasons so the van would drop you off at the start of your leg and then meet you at the next exchange (the next leg). for an ultra, say you have an 11 mile leg which is 2 legs for the regular team. that 11 miles is usually split up into a 6 mile leg and a 5 or something similar. so you would see the van and get water/gu/whatever from them at mile 6 and then keep going until mile 11 where they’d pick you up at the next exchange.
Congrats! You KILLED IT! It’s so inspiring reading something like this and it makes me even more excited to try it for myself someday
Congrats on a great finish!! I ran ragnarlv too…on a 12 person team and it took us FOREVER to finish.
hey, you did and thats awesome, own that accomplishment!
Fantastic recap! Sounds like a tough course.
And you’re right, it’s certainly not the Vegas that I think of. You girls did amazingly
Congratulations to you and your team!
Who knew the terrain was so diverse and beautiful?!
Are you going to be able to get them to change the Ultra team resullts so that it reflects that the other teams time reflects that they started before you guys? How come they don’t do any kind of chip timing? The relay’s I’ve done they had a chip timer on the “slap” bracelet, you crossed a timing mat at the start and the finish line.
they didnt have chip timing in vegas which they had at socal; thought that was a little weird. sarahoual, our team captain, emailed the RD. we even have race photos of the start (only emily and one other team, a different one than the ultra one im talking about) started at 1:30. so its sorta like we have proof…
<3 that an all girls ultra beat a masters ultra
That’s one bad ass group of ladies! Well done! Definitely makes a huge difference who your teammates are. Who wants to be stuck in a stinky van with crabby chicks?
So what was the big food mistake of this relay? How much did you have leftover at the end?
Great job to everyone. It is just amazing.
The Kidless Kronicles
Come and do the Great River Ragnar in MN/WI. I did my first in August. What a blast!
Congratulations! That is amazing! Please come to TN for the Ragnar Relay here. It is not as challenging (read: we don’t have mountains here like in Vegas), so it might be super fast. Plus then I could race against you and meet you in person.
Though if it happens that Vegas and TN happen on the same weekend, that might be a challenge. I did the TN one this weekend on an ultra team and we stunk it up for a total time of 29:33–we are not the speedy fast racers you guys are.
On the plus side, we did not freeze at all, so weather conditions might be a draw
thats an awesome time! you had me at flat, i want a flat, easy ultra next time!
I really like the idea of TN for some reason
Great job ladies!! Did I see peanut butter filled pretzel nuggets in one of those pics?? Love them!
they pretty much singlehandedly powered the whole team for 26 hours. that and subway.
Congrats on the relay! You girls KILLED it!!! So fun hearing all about it… and it definitely has me interested in a relay. Not an ULTRA relay… but, I’d love to try a relay some day!
sarah, You need to come do red rock!! it is AMAZING!! There are a few different ones. Check them out at redrockrelay.com
Congrats! You guys are amazing!
I noticed the results say “preliminary.” They also say “adjustments to be made.” So my hope is that they eventually get it right for you girls that ran so hard and so well! You did an amazing job!!!
Great job! I looked for you but figured you were WAY ahead of us, and you were! I ran with a 12 person team and found myself wanting to die a few times. WIND is the WORST! But we finished!
Sounds like a fun race! A friend of mine has been trying to get me to do Ragnar in the Keys forever. She loves that race but usually has to run with a lot of people she doesn’t know well because she doesn’t have that many running friends. So be glad you have all those girls!
Hey, you could do Ragnar in the Keys and then knock the Goofy Challenge of your “to do” list in the same month. Both in January. Long vacation to Florida!
Did you like Vegas or SoCal better? I’m thinking Vegas looked better from the recaps. Or maybe it’s just the scenery.
Impressive … don’t know how you do it … I want to run like you when I grow up … wat I was born before you so I guess I can’t! Awesome job as always!
wow that’s an awesome time! I’m running my first regular Ragnar this summer and am so excited for it. My friends are trying to convince me to do an ultra Ragnar in July, but I kind of want to see how a regular goes first.
WOW! Those stats – to finish that high up out of all those teams is unbelievable!
I can’t believe the gusts of winds you guys went through.
What a great team effort and I’m glad to hear it was such a success. All of you must be so proud!
Sounds like an amazing experience! I’d love to run something like this someday. I really like the idea of teamwork and support. Obviously, I have a long way to go before ultra running, but I loved the similar idea during tough Mudder. Congrats!
You girls are amazing!!! Looks like you had a great time too!!
congrats! not just a first place finish but definitely a first place for fashion…i mean a leopard print robe, that settles it.
awesome u had so much fun and free pizza at the end, more races need to take note.
Hah! Spot on! I said top 3 but you gals nailed it for top spot!!!! Congrats!
Awesome win!! Running against the wind is no joke!
We’ve emailed the RD about the start time. They were supposed to have the results corrected by 5pm yesterday. You girls killed it and it’s a bitter pill to lose a ~26 hour race by around 12 minutes
Great Job!!
hey, cheers to you for being honest! great job to you guys as well. it was a tough course.
GREAT JOB on the race & win!! You all rock.
I saw you gals at the finish line beer tent area but you seemed deep in conversation so I didn’t come over and act like the way over eager reader that I am.
That weather was brutal, but I still give it the edge over So Cal- I was almost pulled for dehydration during my first leg there because of the heat. I tried to take in all the surroundings in Vegas instead of focusing on the cold.
I rocked that exact same Snuggy for part of the race. I wasn’t prepared for the cold, and had to borrow other people’s blankets and jackets most of the time.
Great job ladies!
Congratulations on your win! You passed me (I’m pretty sure) 4-5 miles into the night leg when I was having a moment of “why do I like doing this?”
i totally had the same thoughts!
Any comments on the compression socks/sleeves? I need another pair and while I’m happy with my CEP’s…it never hurts to check out something new… Thanks!
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