Ragnar Las Vegas

Ragnar Las Vegas was an awesome experience. I have tried 2 times to write about it and this blog has crashed twice and deleted pretty much my entire post. Now I guess just the facts for me to keep. I can't face writing it again.

My journey started out with packing and doing all the last minute errands and things before I left town. I was tired before I even started. Normal for me.
I flew into Vegas on Southwest Airlines Wednesday and stayed the night with Wanda & Marty. It was so nice to see them again. They were nice enough to take me to the grocery store and I was able to purchase the food items we needed for our relay in Van 1. Then I went and left all the water I had purchased at their house and had to purchase it again.
Neal drove in from Arizona on Thursday and he picked me up at Mestas’ and we went to meet the Shoelace Ninja’s at NY NY Hotel. The arrival of all the Ninjas was spread out over the next several hours. Some of us drove, many arrived by air. A few of us had dinner together Thursday evening and then most of us met in a room at the NY NY and had our first official team meeting… just hours before we were to run together. Larry gave us a briefing on the rules and other info to help us have a successful race.
To bed that night, many of us too excited to sleep well. We got up early the next morning to load Neal’s van, decorate it, and leave in time to arrive at the start line, about 60 miles away (1.5 hrs).
As we were driving to the start line we were driving on the course we would soon run. The red rock area was beautiful. And those little hills that showed on the Ragnar course maps, well they were bigger in life than on paper.
After arriving at the starting line we went directly to the registration area and began the process. First we go to the check-in and let them know that we have arrived. As a team we are moved to a corral to go through our safety training. This is a good training, and would work excellent but people do what they want to do. They do not follow all the safety rules.
Meet the Shoelace Ninja team:
Team 125  Average pace: 9:38  Open Division
Course overview is 187.1 miles… That is Ragnar Las Vegas. Going up 14470. Coming down 13103.
Runner 1 Neal Mestas pace: 8:30  Legs 1,13,25
Runner 2 Lance Brandow pace: 10:00  Legs 2,14,26
Runner 3 John Wollenzien pace: 8:30  Legs 3,15,27
Runner 4 Shana Wollenzien pace: 9:00  Legs 4,16,28
Runner 5 Marsha Monson pace: 13:00  Legs  5,17,19
Runner 6 Mike Sailer pace: 9:30  Legs 6,18,30

Runner 7 Bobby Briggs pace: 7:15  Legs 7,19,31
Runner 8 Randall Ryan Jr. pace: 11:00  Legs 8,20,32
Runner 9 Randall Ryan Sr. pace: 9:30  Legs 9,21,33
Runner 10 Larry Keister pace: 8:00  Legs 10,22,34
Runner 11 Paul Dickinson pace: 11:00  Legs 11,23,35
Runner 12 Brian McCullough pace: 10:00  Legs 12,24,36


Van 1 Legs 1-6. We need to cover 32.7 miles. Our total elevation gain is 2697, our elevation loss will be 2707. Those hills we drove over on the way into the Lake Mead National Recreation Area – well many will be run by us.


First to run is Neal. He is ready, had some Ipod technical difficulties but he got those figured out.  His leg is


Larry has Leg 10 a 3.2 miles Ragnar easy to run for his first leg. He has a climb in about one mile of 271 ft. then downhill running with a loss of 367 ft or so.


Brian runs his first leg. This is a 6.5 mile Ragnar hard, with a gain of 387 ft, loss of 607 ft. He runs into the Lowes Lake Las Vegas major Exchange 12.


Brian has his easy leg of this Ragnar journey into Exchange 24 where he will hand off the slap baton to us. Leg 24 is a 2.7 mile Ragnar easy downhill with an elevation loss of 161 ft.

Team 125  Average pace: 9:38  Open Division

Course overview is 187.1 miles… That is Ragnar Las Vegas. Going up 14470. Coming down 13103.

Runner 1 Neal Mestas pace: 8:30  Legs 1,13,25

Runner 2 Lance Brandow pace: 10:00  Legs 2,14,26

Runner 3 John Wollenzien pace: 8:30  Legs 3,15,27

Runner 4 Shana Wollenzien pace: 9:00  Legs 4,16,28

Runner 5 Marsha Monson pace: 13:00  Legs  5,17,19

Runner 6 Mike Sailer pace: 9:30  Legs 6,18,30

Runner 7 Bobby Briggs pace: 7:15  Legs 7,19,31

Runner 8 Randall Ryan Jr. pace: 11:00  Legs 8,20,32

Runner 9 Randall Ryan Sr. pace: 9:30  Legs 9,21,33

Runner 10 Larry Keister pace: 8:00  Legs 10,22,34

Runner 11 Paul Dickinson pace: 11:00  Legs 11,23,35

Runner 12 Brian McCullough pace: 10:00  Legs 12,24,36

Van 1 has legs 1-6. We need to cover 32.7 miles. Our total elevation gain is 2697, our elevation loss will be 2707. Those hills we drove over on the way into the Lake Mead National Recreation Area – well many will be run by us.

First to run is Neal. He is ready, had some Ipod technical difficulties but he got those figured out.  His leg is

Larry has Leg 10 a 3.2 miles Ragnar easy to run for his first leg. He has a climb in about one mile of 271 ft. then downhill running with a loss of 367 ft or so.

Brian runs his first leg. This is a 6.5 mile Ragnar hard, with a gain of 387 ft, loss of 607 ft. He runs into the Lowes Lake Las Vegas major Exchange 12.

Brian has his easy leg of this Ragnar journey into Exchange 24 where he will hand off the slap baton to us. Leg 24 is a 2.7 mile Ragnar easy downhill with an elevation loss of 161 ft.

Leg 28 a 6.8 mile Ragnar very hard is run by Shana. Pahrump Road, which 3 of us will be running along is a rocky, uneven dirt road. We can already see the dust. Shana has a smaller elevation gain of 259 ft., but she still running in this dust cloud for 6.8 miles. This couldn’t be fun. Her elevation loss is 114 ft.

Lance is driving at this point and chooses that our van will support her. We stay with her so long that when we arrive at Exchange 28 the line for the restroom is so long that I have no time to go and must head out on my run with a full bladder.

My last run of the relay, Leg 29 a 4.2 Ragnar hard still on this miserable dirt road. Still very dusty, the drivers are not being very courteous, they have created a dust storm for us to all run through. I have no elevation loss in my run, I gained 534 ft. I am not use to running on dirt with uneven ground and large rocks. This leg kicks my butt. Yeah it hurts too along with my legs. I really slow down.

Mike has his leg after mine on dirt. With more dust. He is running Leg 30 6.1 miles Ragnar very hard. He will gain 909 ft. And have a small elevation loss of 56 ft. He runs into the major Exchange 30 in the Dirt Pit where we turn over the baton to Van 2 and we are Done!

Ragnar Wasatch Back 2011

Yes, we did it for the sticker.

I heard about this relay 3 years ago. Kelli Davey, my bosses wife runs it with an all girl team called "Legs Breasts and Wings." I thought it sounded crazy. And all that running seemed impossible, I knew I could never do it even if I wanted to.
Last year Kelli organized a coed team so her husband and other family members could be on it. Kelli gave me Mike's training schedule and I put it on our work calendar. Each day I'd tell him what he was running. Sometimes it would be just downright funny to me. "Mike, it says here you have to do 50 minutes of hill running. Twice today."

Wasatch Walkers 2nd Place in Master's Division

Fast forward, I learned to run. Then the Ragnar Relay didn't seem so impossible. Through Cyndie I found out that the Wasatch Walkers, a walking club, was looking for a replacement runner for their team. I was planning to do the Shark Attack Triathlon that weekend and so I didn't jump on taking the spot or pay that much attention. It was Runner 11 and I didn't have the confidence to do that huge downhill leg. Or even "Ragnar." Plus it was not in Van 1 with Cyndie.
As the vacancy was still available after several weeks the adventure of possibly running Ragnar with Cyndie got to me, all the sudden I committed to the team when they did some rearranging so that I could be in Van 1 with Cyndie and take Runner 5, the one with the uphill.
Fast forward I really am going to do this! I go in to list making mode. You all know one of my favorite parts. (I will put my list in a separate post.)
Fast forward to the Wasatch Walkers Ragnar planning meeting. It was fun and informative. I got to meet all the wonderful ladies and see who was going to be in Van 1 with me. One of my  van buddies had driven our parts of the course and she handed out copies with notes to help us. 
Fast forward to the Thursday before the race. Van 2 ladies all met at Cyndie's house to load all our gear in her truck. 


Runner 1 - Cyndie Nell
Runner 2 - Marjorie Mullaly
Runner 3 - Leah Forster
Runner 4 - Madeline Quayle
Runner 5 - Marsha Monson
Runner 6 - Kristy Ames


Cyndie had decorated the truck with red lights and the walker. We drove to Logan and stayed in a hotel. We purchased some lighted flowers for our hair so we would all have something matching. Came back to the hotel in Logan to get some sleep. Set our alarms for 3am, we had to be at our safety meeting at 4am. 

Getting ready for the safety meeting at 4am.

Cyndie doing a grumpy face.

It was a very cold windy morning in Logan. The starting line was at Utah State University. Cyndie was our first runner and the first group left on time right at 5am. They promptly directed to run the wrong direction - never listen to cops! By the time the group of 30 or so got going the right way they had added an extra mile to their run.
Things got better after that. We went to meet Cyndie at Exchange #1. I saw Lance Brandow & Kimberly Wilde from the team "Snot Rockets!" Sounds like they let their kids pick the name. 

Marj Mullaly, she is an awesome race walker.
She has run 30 marathons all over the US.

Madeline Quale, another great race walker.

Leah Forster, our van captain she runs and walks, with
a cute style you can spot in the distance.

Things flowed well for our team and soon it was my turn to run my first leg, a 7.4 miles Very Hard leg up Avon Pass. It was dusty and the day was getting warm. 

Running up Avon Pass.

Up the hill I on my first leg I go.

Runner 1, 1st Leg, Leg 5.

Finally, the end of Leg 1. Avon Pass conquered.

I thought my leg went well. Yes, it was very hard and it was uphill on a dirt road. I benefited from a little shade from the bushes and trees along the road. There were full sun parts and I got pretty hot, but I had brought water. I also got a couple of "mists" from other teams driving by - that was NICE. I did run out of water, and so I kept watching a choose a van that was stopped helping their runner and asked for my water bottle to be filled. The girl says "I know you, didn't you just run your first marathon?" I was puzzled because I did not recognize her. She ended up being a Marathon Maniac know as the Italian Stallion and she had remembered me from the marathon in May. Small running world.
Soon we were finished with all six of our legs, 38.7 miles and meeting for our first exchange with Van 2 at Liberty City Park. They were on time and ready to run or race walk!
Now it was our chance to get over to the next exchange and have a needed rest before they arrived. By now it was getting pretty warm, so we cranked up the air conditioning and headed for Snow Basin. At this major exchange the traffic was pretty backed up. We drove slowly for miles to get up the hill to Snow Basin. All the runners were progressing slowly up the steep hill. I was so glad that wasn't my leg.
After reaching Snow Basin we hung out, rested, ate an overpriced dinner at the ski resort. Hey, I was just glad they had food. I needed a good dinner, although a spicy chicken sandwich and fries isn't really what I had in mind there was not much choice. We had a little longer at the resort than we thought we would as Van 2 was about an hour behind their projected time. Heat is not kind. They had 22.4 miles to run for the team.

Ready to run. Van 1 is rested. Go Cyndie, Go Cyndie.

Time to get the music on.

Here is the exchange between Cyndie and Shelly.

Cyndie took off on Leg 13, a Very Hard 8.3 miles. She is awesome. Her total miles for Runner 1 in Wasatch Back was 21 miles. With the course problem she ran 22. I ran 14.6. Quite a difference.

Runner 1, 2nd Leg, Leg 17.

By the time we got to me, Runner 5 it was late. Around 11:00pm. I had a short distance of 4.2 miles. There was a full moon. It was beautiful, the temperature was so much cooler. I was ready to rock the nighttime run.

Dressed for the night run.

By this time our team had fallen behind and so we had called up Ragnar and talked to them about the possibility of leap frogging to catch up. They said that would be fine, they would leave it up to us. So we began leaving before our other runner came in to save time. We did not want to get to the finish line at 10 or 11pm at night when everyone was gone!!
Van 1 finished our runs late and boy were we tired. We headed to a high school gym, I can't even remember where. We all found a spot in the dark gym where there were lots of runners sleeping on the floor. I told Cyndie that we'd sleep better if we took a shower. So after laying out our bags we went to the shower. At 2am. With no private showers and tiny towels it was like gym class. Only one pole shower worked. It was not pretty. But hey, that is a $2 shower and we were desperate women. At least most of the young skinny runners were done. Got some rest, got some sleep.
Since our team was going to leap frog the next day, we didn't set alarms. We just got up when we were ready. Some of us earlier than others. They had a nice breakfast in the cafeteria, eggs, ham and pancakes. $6, what a deal. It was really good.
We got the truck loaded and we were back on the road heading to the next exchange place. Cyndie again being Runner 1 was first up.

Cyndie taking off on her third and final leg.

I thought everyone did nice on their final runs. Everyone was holding up.

Dressed for final run.

My final leg was 29, which took our team into Heber. I started running along Hwy 40. It was hot, but I was actually thankful for a head wind that kept me cooler. I decided to mostly run, go for a good time. As I was running down Hwy 40 a big semi truck went past and the force of the air blew my visor right off!

Cyndie's gets me finishing Leg 3.

Coming into the exchange area.

Passing the slap bracelet to Kristy Ames.

The course took a turn up into a place called Coyote Valley Hills in a housing track. I had one last hill to climb. My van didn't support me because they were driving Runner 6 to the exchange location. But plenty of other vans gave me some "mist" and even a little girl in her yard with a hose. Finished running strong, just the way I like to. 

Runner 1, 3rd Leg, Leg 29.

Our team, 816 Wasatch Walkers finished in 38:13:42.3. Remember though, we did run all our legs but we did not wait to pass the baton to the next runner. Out of the two Women's Masters teams, we finished second.
We had fun.
We laughed.
We got tired.
Oh yeah, and some got sore. There is already an email out by Nancy Linky, team captain for this year that she wants to do it again in 2012. Several ladies have already committed. I know that Cyndie says no way, she's got it checked off her bucket list! I need to find her a new bucket with another Ragnar in it. I'd like to do it again.

Training for Ragnar

Click here to go to the source of this hilarious blog entry - she rocks

In the flurry of emails regarding the upcoming Ragnar races someone on my team who has never run Ragnar asked for training advice.  A veteran team member replied to break his runs up into 2 pieces.  If he currently runs 6 miles today, run 3 in the morning and 3 in the afternoon or evening to get used to running more than once a day. While that advice is absolutely correct, it can be expanded on.  Here is what I suggest for Ragnar training:

Get up early, about 5am, eat breakfast from a gas station, drive around in the car, get out, walk around, get back in the car, get out of the car and then go for a run.  Get in the vehicle immediately after the run DO NOT STRETCH and drive around, go do errands, whatever.  DO NOT SHOWER.  Eat again, sit around, go find a construction site with a rank smelling port-a-potty and no toilet paper, then go for another run.  You should be getting sleepy about now. Find someone who talks non-stop and ask them to talk to you while you try and sit quietly. It is very important that the  non-stop talking occurs for the next 7 hours. DO NOT SLEEP. It should now be nighttime and you should be very tired.  DO NOT SLEEP. Turn on the TV, find PBS and a show about wild animals, turn up the volume on the TV. Kick back on the couch with your spare roll of toilet paper that you carry with you everywhere after the port-a-potty incident, close your eyes and just when you are about to sleep, the wild animals should start to roar, this should continue for 2 hours. If it is effective roaring, you will laugh from delirious tiredness and wonder when you can get up and run again.  At 3 am, get up and go outside, walk around, get in and out of the vehicle for good measure,  drink some luke warm coffee or hot chocolate, take Pepto Bismal for the upset stomach and then go for another run.  By this point you should be tired, smelly, stiff and sore but well trained for losing your Ragnar virginity.

Ragnar Relay Las Vegas here I come!

Ragnar Relay Overview:

Imagine this...you and 11 of your closest friends running day and night, relay-style, through some of the most scenic terrain North America can muster. Add in some good tunes, a few inside jokes and a mild case of sleep deprivation...and what do you get? Some call it a slumber party without sleep, pillows or deodorant. We call it the Ragnar Relay Series!

Why would I want to do this??? Maybe for the medal. I do like bling. Maybe because I can run with Neal. Maybe because I want that decal for my van like everyone else in town! Maybe I am crazy? A year ago I would have looked at you like - no way I could do that, I can hardly run 3 miles (but I secretly wished I could run)! Or all of the above!!!!!!
Our team captain happens to be an old mission companion of Neal's. He has started a facebook group Ragnar Sin City 2011 so that we can get to know each other since we don't all live near each other. I won't be running with "11 of my closest friends" but they probably will be after 2 days together!
So most important, what Runner would I most like to be. Well, when Neal first called me a couple of weeks ago to ask me I quickly went out to see the runner chart  and what the difficulty of the Las Vegas run legs. Immediately I let him know that I saw at least 3 that I thought I could do in Van 2. Later I looked closer at 4 of the runners in Van 2 - 8, 9, 11 & 12. I do want to enjoy myself.
My first pick, Runner 8. It looks like a challenge, but yet fun. This is so funny to think about now, but I use to wonder why runners didn't think 5K's were all that great. My boss's wife Kelly would say I'm just getting warmed up by the 3 miles and then it is over. Well that has kinda happened with me. I still enjoy my training 3&4 mile runs, but a run now is a little bit longer then that. Funny how perspective changes.
Back to Runner 8. She (lets just assume I get this spot, think positive) will run a total of 14.2 miles. My first leg will be Leg 8 (named for Runner 8 or maybe vise versa) and is 4.6 miles they have labeled "moderate" in difficulty it just has one slight uphill and it is along the highway. Then back in the van I go. Later I would run Leg 20 which is 3.9 miles and "easy," it is through a neighborhood and has a slight downhill to it. Back in the van again. My longest run of the relay would be my last one, Leg 32 a "moderate" difficulty with a distance of 5.7 miles. In this leg I would be running downhill and drop 1000 feet. Seems doable for my abilities.
There is only one catch now. And that is Saints to Sinners. My friend Loni Smith would have to bring that up. I had heard about that before but forgotten it. "Saints to Sinners" is a special medal that I could earn if I ran both the Wasatch Back & Las Vegas Ragnar in the same year. Well I am not entered in the WB but there is an opening on Cyndie's team the Wasatch Walkers. My hesitation is the race is the same day as the Shark Attack Triathlon which I wanted to enter. Choices.

Saints to Sinner medal on right.