The Southern California Ragnar Relay, a recipe
Ingredients:
12 people
2 vans
1 RV
iPod full of new music and NPR podcasts
3 sets of clothes, 5 sports bras, 4+ bags of Trader Joe’s snacks,
and a pancake breakfast
2 bike pacers (thanks Dad and Allison!)
Directions:
Assemble team of 12. Preheat for three months with lots of training runs and complaining. Assemble/manipulate close family members to act as bodyguards during middle-of-the-night legs. Fly to Santa Barbara. Drive to Ventura. Show up at a random church in Moorpark to meet two vans full of strangers. Drink lots of water. Start driving, slowly. Cheer loudly. Honk horn often. Hop out of van at 4pm, run 7.4 miles completely uphill. Question why you agreed to ever do a relay race in the first place. Eat mexican food. Sleep from 11:15pm to 2:15am. Run 6.8 miles from Manhattan Beach to Redondo Beach. Reward yourself with hot chocolate to ward off exhaustion. Cheer for teammates, eat, drive, honk horn. Show up at Huntington Beach for a two hour nap. Think about showering. Decide to eat pancake breakfast instead. Hop back into van. Run 5.4 miles through Irvine. Eat-AGAIN. Show up at finish line as the sun sets to celebrate and collect medals.
Total prep time: 3 months
Total time in oven: 36 hours from start to finish; 200 miles
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Congratulations Lesley! I’ve heard a lot about this race and it sounds incredibly difficult but so fun at the same time. The picture of you running looks like it is literally outside my house in Redondo…if I knew you were coming I would have come out to cheer you on!
Well done, friend.
Mich! You know what’s so funny? When I finished, I realized where I was, and I said, “Mom- this is where Michelle used to live!” (I totally forgot you still live in the same place!) I wish I would have remembered. I’d have loved to see you and Jeremy.
Great job Lesley and Sharon! What an adventure that must have been
I am selfishly glad you are done training because hopefully this means I’ll see you at yoga in the park more often…
Bravo!
I love how you wrote it like a recipe.
Lesley, this looks like such a cool experience! I’m impressed.
love it! I’m gonna share this on my facebook?
Glad we did it. Glad it’s done. Thanks for being such a great running partner.
Hood to Coast 2011?!?
Fun!! I did an identical relay like 3 or 4 years ago and had a blast!! What a cool and unique experience it is!