Ragnar Trail Appalachians – West Virginia by the numbers:
Team:
- 116.8 miles of trail running
- 24 loops: 8 Green (short, easy, 3.5mi), 8 Yellow (moderate, 4.6mi), 8 Red (long, technical, climbing, 6.5mi)
- 3 days, 2 nights
- 8 matching blue shirts
- 7 team members with 1 common connection: Abe Stoker
- 3 tents
- 10 camp chairs
Me:
- 5th Ragnar Trail race; 1st one in West Virginia
- 35.7 miles of trail running
- 2+ loops: 2 Green, 2 Yellow, 3 Red
- 12 outfit changes
- 20+ year old friendship
- 6 teammates: 2 college friends, 4 folks I met once before, 1 stranger
- 10 cups of hot chocolate
- 2 pairs of running shoes
- <1 hour of sleep
Ragnar Trail races are a unique and delightful experience. Ragnar Trail Appalachians – WV was no different. The best way to describe it is, “It’s all about the team.” Seven of us became a team between Friday morning and Saturday morning. We started together, with the team cheering me on as I took off on the first loop. We finished together with the team running Dominic and I across the finish line at the end of the last loop. On those 2 days and 1 night of running, we were part of a much larger team than the 7 of us; we were part of the entire team of racers. It feels like every racer is there for you and wants your team to finish by cheering you on, sharing tips about the different loops, commiserating in trips/fails, offering help, and just generally being excellent to each other.
I am so happy I got to share this with my best friend and three other Ragnar newbies. The only change I would make is to run my loops back-to-back. Splitting them up meant I did not have as much downtime to hang out and bond with the team.
The entire team had fun. All the newbies were delighted and surprised by Ragnar. It was a great experience. Everyone on the team wants to do it again next year and have already started planning.
October 2017 – A crazy idea is conceived
I have been friends with Abe Stoker since 1997. In October 2017, I flew out to Dayton Ohio to surprise Abe and celebrate his birthday. Over the course of the weekend, Abe said he wanted to do a race with me. We talked about the kind of race he was looking to do and I recommended we get a team together to run a Ragnar Trail.
Over the next several weeks, Abe and I found 6 other people interested in running a Ragnar Trail. We decided Abe would be team captain since he knew all but one of our runners and had more time available to focus on the race. (I had other races I needed to focus on, such as Infinitus 250 and organizing the Texas Ragnar Teams.). We found a race that worked for everyone’s schedule that was within driving distance to Abe: Ragnar Trail Appalachians – WV.
In the months leading up, Abe and his local teammates began to train. Many of us connected on MapMyRun and started following each other’s training runs. I set up a spreadsheet (copied from ones I set up for previous Ragnars) with team info, team gear checklist, suggested personal gear checklist, and race order info. After multiple votes and debate, we decided on a name: “Was Told There’d Be Lube”. Travis and I coordinated and reserved our flights out of Texas. Things were going well and we were ahead of schedule planning wise.
2 Weeks Prior – Our first and second hiccups
About 2 weeks before the race, I received a note from Travis. He and his team were scheduled to do a video shoot in DC the week of Ragnar. This meant that our original plan of us flying into Pittsburgh and driving to the race on Thursday night no longer worked. I started to investigate other options, such as flying in earlier and having the Ohio racers pick me up on the way, flying and meeting Travis in DC, etc.
The next day, I receive a second note from Travis. “You may need to have your friend get you from the airport. I injured my ACL last night. I might be out of the race, seeing my doctor tomorrow.” We decided to wait to inform the team until he had an official diagnosis from his doctor. The good news was that he did not injury his ACL and would not need any surgery. The bad news was, he did injure his MCL, was restricted him from racing, and he would be on crutches for several weeks. We were down one racer.
Despite our best efforts, we could not find a replacement for Travis in such a short timeline. I volunteered to run Travis’ loops. To give myself an extra challenge, I opted to run the 1st and 5th positions. (The ultra teams at Ragnar run two loops back to back.). By separating the loops like I did, it meant shorter rest times between runs, little to no sleep, and required more planning. The team was cool with the plan, so we went ahead with it.
On Our Way or What Happens in 15 minutes
As we got close to race day, the team was communicating well, checking the weather, and sending updates to makes sure everyone was prepared. Abe even organized a get together for everyone to test and check their gear before the race.
As I started to pack, I realized that the way I picked to run my loops would require at least double the amount of race clothing. This detail made me question my decision, but I decided to stick with it because I knew it would be more difficult. I checked the team gear list and saw that every item had a name next to it, but I was concerned that the quantity of the items spoken for was less than the quantity I suggested. One in particular stood out, tarps. I suggested bringing 6 to 8, but only 2 were spoken for. I decided not to worry about it, because we could make due.
Thursday morning, I woke up at 2:30am. The flights from Austin to Columbus went well and I arrived in Columbus, OH only a few minutes later than scheduled. I was greeted by a car load of people and stuff. As I was forcing my giant duffle into the van, Abe says, “We have 15 minutes to get to Walmart.” I hustled, got my bags and body into the van as quickly as possible, and let him know we are good to go.
Once we started moving, I ask, “What happens in 15 minutes?” No one answers. I repeat, “You said we have 15 minutes to get to Walmart. What happens in 15 minutes?”
Abe clarified, “What I meant is that it takes 15 minutes to get to Walmart.”
“Dude! That is a very different statement,” I reply. It was good to see Abe again.
The Night Before
After picking up some last minute supplies to Walmart, we were on our way to Big Bear Lake. We arrived early enough to get a good campsite, unpack, and park. As usual when I travel to a race, TSA had gone through my duffle bag. What was weird this time is that they went through all my bags and bins in the duffle, then re-taped each of them in TSA branded tape. Once the campsite was set up, Abe & I watched the safety video, got the team checked in, bought Abe a Ragnar Captain hat, and were ready to go.
Back at camp, the team played some games while Abe cooked and I made my own meal. Tracy showed us the t-shirts and costumes she got everyone. We had t-shirts that spelled out variations of our team name: “Travis Was Told There Would Be Lube”, “I Was Told There Would Be Lube.” She also made a “Not Travis” flag to wear. I took the Travis and I shirts.
Tracy also got each of us a cape with the symbol of a superhero. I received the “Flash” cape. After dinner and costumes, I went to bed while the team stayed up playing games.
The Race Begins
We had a 10:30am start time and I was the first runner. I got up early on Saturday, had some breakfast and Ragnar hot chocolate. We took some before photos in our team shirts that Tracy made. I had to change my shirt 3 times for different photos. Unbeknownst to me, this was foreshadowing my race.
As we headed to the transition team, our team shirts, which spelled out “Travis Was Told There Would Be Lube,” got a lot of attention and laughs. I was wearing the “Travis” shirt with a “NOT TRAVIS” red cape pinned to my back. As we lined up for the start, I noticed that trail bottlenecked to a single track shortly after the start. I saw that and was determined to be the first one there.
The horn blew and we were off. I high fived the MC as I passed him and took off in a full sprint. I made it to the single track before anyone else. I wanted this loop to be my fastest, so I pushed hard. The track was more technical than I expected which slowed me down a tad. My favorite part of the loop was coming around near the campsites and having a group chant “Travis! Travis! Travis!” as they saw me coming. As I took the turn, I pointed to my back and the “NOT TRAVIS” flag. I heard them say “Not Travis!” and laugh. The last half mile of the green loop merges with Yellow and Red loops. The last quarter mile goes through a different part of the campsites. People were sitting there cheering for every racer that went by. REI had a frame set up to take pictures. When the photographer was trying to tell me about it, I misunderstood him and jumped through it never slowing my pace. I hit the bridge before the transition tent, went up, came down and transitioned the bib to Abe. He wanted the “NOT TRAVIS” flag as well, but it’s fasteners broke on my run. I sent Abe off. I completed in under an 8 min/mi pace. Not as fast as I wanted, but I was happy with it.
My next run was lap 5, so I had a couple of hours to clean up, change, eat, etc. I changed quickly, got some water and Tailwind. We fixed the “NOT TRAVIS” flag for I met Abe when he finished his loop. He was nervous before he started, but felt pretty good afterwards. He said there was a really cool part of the Yellow loop in the pine forest.
As our runners continued, I changed back into my race clothes and readied for the Yellow loop. I wanted another fast loop, but knew I needed to start pacing myself. The Yellow Loop was fun. It had some technical parts, some climbing, and the area in the pine forest that Abe told me about was pretty awesome. The Yellow and Red loop merge a little more than a mile from the finish. I finished, passed the bib and headed back to camp.
Round 2: Here Comes the Thunder!
I had an estimated 4 hours between my second and third run. I took that time to eat a little, change into comfortable clothes, fix my feet, etc. It was at this time I realized I couldn’t relax and that I had to be mentally “on” between every run. I had just enough time to not only relax but also to screw up if I wasn’t careful. I was ready for my next loop, the Red Loop (largest, most climbs, and most difficult). The transition from Dominic went smoothly and I kicked off round 2 of runs. The Red Loop was the most unique one. It was a favorite of most of runners. There is a highly technical section that includes climbing over and jumping down large boulders. I came in, passed the bib to Abe, who was wearing his Thor cape.
I went back to our camp. Matt and Josh were heading to dinner then to our volunteer time. Charles and Dominic grabbed Abe’s dinner ticket and went to the dinner area. Tracy and I stayed at camp. We heard talk of coming rain, so Tracy and I secured the camp area and put all gear under the protection of the canopy. The lightning and thunder started. We received word that there would be a two hour delay. (Why did Abe wear his Thor cape?)
With the extra time, I decided I would get dinner. After asking Tracy too many times if she would be cool if I left her at the campsite alone, I went to get dinner. As I was walking over, I realized I forgot my rain jacket and light. “I should be fine,” I thought. About three fourths of the way there, the sky turned dark and the rain poured down. I ran to the covered structure which housed the transition area and food. It was packed. I got in the food line and sent a note to Abe trying to figure out where he was. I filled my plate with pasta and started to look for my team. I could not find them, but I found Laura – a runner I know from Austin Texas. I joined her team for dinner. As soon as I sat down, Dominic and Charles found me. Josh went back to camp and Abe had not finished yet. He was running very late.
I saw Abe walking out of the transition area. We got him dinner and sat him down with some food. The rain was pouring down.
We learned that Abe had injured his knee on the loop. After a quick discussion we decided that I would take Abe to the medic to get checked out. Dominic would hang with Charles. Luckily, Dominic had a spare poncho in his pack. He lent it to me so I could take Abe to the medic. Abe was moving slow due to his knee. We could see that medics were not in their tent, so we went to the transition area to find some help. We were sent to Alex, the race director who clearly had his hands full with the weather and delay. It turns out the medics where weathering the storm inside their car. Since Abe’s injury was not in need of immediate attention, we were going to wait until the rain let up.
The rain started to slow and Dominic found us in the transition area. Charles was back at camp. Dominic agreed to stay with Abe so I could head back to camp. When I got back, only Tracy was out of the tent. It started to rain heavy again, so Tracy and I went into the big tent. Since it was just the two of us, we had a chance to catch up. She was pretty stoked to be racing again and was really enjoying the Ragnar experience. We received word that the delay was now 3 hours. I set my alarm and tried to get some sleep. While I was able to rest, I did not get any sleep.
Abe and Dominic returned to camp. Abe had seen the medics. There was nothing obviously wrong with his knee, but based on the symptoms it seems like an overuse or stress injury. We made the call that Abe would sit out his last leg and that I would run it. This meant another Red loop for me, immediately after my final Yellow loop.
Back to Running
The weather delay was over and racers started hitting the trails again. Charles left on time and I started to get ready for my next Green loop. Soon enough it was time for me to go back out. The trails were wet, muddy, and sloppy. I took it easy, knowing I had another 17.6 miles to run.
I came in, cleaned up, changed, and fixed up my feet. With the rain, mud and darkness, everyone was slower on the trails. Before I knew it, it was time to get back into race gear. For this round, I opted for my Saucony Exodus shoes, my long distance shoes.
It was the start of our 3rd and final round of running. I went out on the Red, by about halfway through the sun was up enough that I didn’t need my headlamp. Also, the mist settled in the pine forest and made it look like a scene from Return of the Jedi’s Endor.
My pace was slowing down. I came in, switched my bracelet and went out on the Red loop. I was going at slow, but steady pace. I started to experience some consequences of nutritional deficiency. I finished the Red loop slower than I wanted. When I came in, I heard that we had decided to double up our final loops. That meant I had anywhere from an hour and fifteen minutes to an hour and forty-five minutes before I would have to run the Red loop again.
I got to camp and had to focus. First, fix my feet. This took some time because I did what I tell everyone not to do; peel off leuko-tape before it is ready. It stuck to my toe and I pulled a deep chunk of flesh off my big toe. I quickly cleaned it and super glued it shut. Reapplied the leuko-tape and changed for the next run. Next, I made myself 32oz bottle of Tailwind for my nutritional deficit. Luckily, I was able to finish it before the final run. I was the final loop with Dominic. This meant I had disadvantages of both the first runner and the last runner.
Dominic and I were ready. We got the bib from Matt and Tracy and took off. I had a lot of energy, which was great since I felt so drained at the end of my previous loop. I set the pace on our run, pushing Dominic a little faster than he would normally. It was fun to run with Dominic. He is fairly new to trail running and does not have a lot of experience on technical trails, so I was able to share tips and tricks with him on how to handle/approach different types of terrain. We hit the last mile and pushed hard to the finish. We crossed the finish line together
Final Words
Ragnar Trail Appalachians-WV was a blast. The only change I would make is to run my loops back-to-back. Splitting them up meant I did not have as much downtime to hang out and bond with the team.
The entire team had fun. All the newbies were delighted and surprised by Ragnar. It was a great experience. I am very happy with how it went. Everyone on the team wants to do it again next year and have already started planning.