Ragnar Trail Relay Hill Country, TX – 2018 Race Report

About a week out from the race, I sent my teams a note: “The weather is not looking good – it is going to be cold & wet the whole time.  If we don’t get some more canopies, tarps, tents, and tubs, your quality of life will suck. Either way, it is going to be awesome”

On Friday, October 19, our teams started the Ragnar Trail Relay Hill Country in Comfort, TX.  One of or teams, Rexie’s Other Midnight Runners, started at 0945 (9:45am). Our other team, Rexie’s Midnight Runners, kicked off at 1300 (1:00pm).

Our Results:

• Rexie’s Midnight Runners:
  • Time: 20:05:09
  • Overall Place: 14 out of 275
  • Corporate Place: 1 out of 16
• Rexie’s Other Midnight Runners:
  • Time: 25:51:52
  • Overall Place: 117 out of 275
  • Corporate Place: 8 out of 16

Here are some visualizations on our race data that I build: http://fox-runner.com/data-visualizations/2018-ragnar-trail-relay-hill-country/  

Putting Together a Team or Two

For the previous 4 years, I have pulled together a team of coworkers from Spiceworks to run the Ragnar Trail Relay.  Last year, we had enough interest to build two teams. This year, we again had enough interest to build two teams. We decided that one team would be the competitive team and the other a non-competitive (no pressure) team.

I am really impressed that each year I am able to find 7 other people in Spiceworks willing to run the Ragnar Trail Relay.  For the past two years, we have able to build two teams. This year, we had 14 people on the teams from Spiceworks. Given that Spiceworks is about a 300 person company, that means we had about 5% of the company running in the race.  That is pretty amazing. Like previous years, the team is comprised of experienced runners, beginners, non-runners, and multiple people that have never run on trails before.

Race Conditions

The week lead up to the race, it rained near non-stop in Austin.  Roads and trails were closed due to flooding. There was a lot of concern about the condition of the Ragnar trails, roads, and whether they would still hold race.

When I arrived at Flat Rock Ranch, the location of the race, the parking lot was just mud.  Car tires were spinning, some were getting stuck, etc. The Ragnar village and pathways leading there were no better.  The paths were comprised of wet, thick mud that you sunk into with each step. Everyone was wearing a one pair of shoes/boots to walk to the transition tent, then change into another pair of shoes for the race.   Luckily, our Thursday night crew got us a nice campsite that was relatively free of mud.

While the village was just a gigantic mud pit, the trails were in great condition.  They had their muddy and slippery spots, but it was never a significant portion of the overall traill.

Summary

Ragnar Trail Relay is my fun race of the year.  It is a time to hang out and get to know coworkers, catch up with race friends, and just have a good, laid back time.  While I do want our team to place (we have placed in the corporate division every time), I don’t put a ton of pressure on myself.  I get out there, run fast, and then return to camp.

Like past years, this race had some great moments and memories.  Here are a couple of my favorite ones.

• Seeing some of the items that our members responsible for groceries bringing 60oz of non-dairy coffee creamer and Sour Patch Go-Gurts.  Overall, they did a great job but did have a couple of epic buying mistakes.
• Getting to “motivate” my fellow competitive team members with exchanges such as:
  • Brad: “I am thinking I will run a 13 min/mile on this loop”
    Ed: “I am thinking you should run a 10 min/mile.  Just run like you are planning to, but do it faster.  All you have to do is move your legs faster.”
  • Dawn: “My plan is to run about a 15 min/mile.”
    Ed: “You should change your plan.  A better plan is to run a 10 min/mile.”
• Freaking everyone on the team out about keeping their feet in wet shoes and trench foot.  After that discussion, the entire was sitting around barefoot.
• Throwing a shaka sign to our other team’s runner and doing the “airplane” around a corner after I passed her to let her know it was me.  Which was super clear since I never do either of those two things.
• Showing the non-believers that I can drink an entire ½ gallon of chocolate milk after a race.
• Running my fastest times at Ragnar.  

My absolute favorite memory and one of the reasons I love running Ragnar, is introducing people to trail running for the first time and seeing them really embrace and enjoy it.  

Ragnar was a blast, as always.  I look forward to running my next one.