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It was the third weekend in June and I decided to take a couple of extra days off and go for a little run through the mountains of Utah. I have been running pretty regularly lately, but on that weekend I decided to push my limits a bit more. Instead of the regular 3-4 mile runs I had been doing, I decided to go for a 188 mile jog that started in Logan, Utah and ended in Park City, Utah. Ok, ok... so I didn't do it all by myself. It was a team effort at the annual Wasatch Back Ragnar Relay. Who would have thought I would have the time of my life running, jumping into a van filled with other sweaty bodies, then running some more, getting back into the van, running some more all the while trying to find a few moments to sleep here and there? We had 12 runners on our team split into two groups of six. One person would begin the race by running a designated distance where upon finishing that distance, they would hand off to the next teammate to run their specific leg and continue the race. In all there were 36 legs run, three by each of the twelve teammates. I was the first to run in my group of six. We waited for the final runner of the first group to arrive at our location in Northern Utah (Liberty) where I took off. By no means am I a serious or professional runner, but my adrenaline started to pump a bit and I was able to find a solid stride and finished my four mile leg in about 30 minutes. My second leg came about 11 hours later at 3:00 in the morning in East Canyon. It was only a 3.8 mile leg but still had to climb 626 feet over that distance. It took me about 40 minutes to finish that leg on only about 1.5 hours of sleep. My final leg was a 4.6 mile jaunt through Heber City, Utah. On this leg I felt so relaxed and accomplished that I was actually doing this race that only days before I never thought I would be able to finish. I was running with long, full strides and ran my best in quite a long time finishing the distance in about 32 minutes. My wife Sadie's aunt Michelle was the one who organized the team and she did a fantastic job at it too. She had team jersey's made for the run and she and her husband Robert did a lot of work to get a nice, big rental van for our group of six to ride in. Robert was a trooper! He and his son Cameron came along for the ride to help hand water to us as we ran and they also followed each one of us on every mile of the race. Robert was super sleep deprived by the time it was all over, but he was a huge supporter of each of us as we ran. I also got to know some new people over the 30+ hours we were together crammed in the van. Along with Sadie, Michelle and myself were Saskia, Julie, and Becky. Sadie ran each of her legs without having to stop although her legs were very sore and stiff the following two days. Saskia battled a bit of a stomach bug during her run and still finished strong. Julie and Becky flew up a mountain on their final leg of the day, both passing dozens of people along the way. And Michelle cruised through a cold, windy rain to lead our team across the finish line in 30 hours, two minutes and 23.5 seconds. We finished 211th place in our division, but considering there were 436 teams in that division, we did a great job! There were over 800 total teams in the race. Crazy? Yeah, I think so. Fun? Depends on your definition of fun I guess. Worth it? Most definitely! This is something I would definitely love to do again. What about you? I would encourage everyone out there to take up running and to register to run in any 5K, 10K, 1 mile, or team realy race that you can. No matter how long it takes you to finish, you will walk away from the finish line feeling accomplished and satisfied in doing something that you may have never done before. Next up for me and Sadie... the Freedom Run in Provo, Utah on July 4! Come join us!!! P.S... you can see the entire course map from the Wasatch Back relay as well as the course for each individual leg of the race by clicking on the link below. I was runner #7, Sadie #8, Julie #9, Becky #10, Saskia #11, and Michelle #12. |
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Posted by: M to the aggie Location: grand junction
Way to go Sam! Sounds like you kicked butt for someone who wasn't planning on "killing himself to do that dang race". Good luck in Provo! Posted by: Brian Location: Salt Lake Sam it is great that you were able to do that. I am working so that I can run a 5k for organ donation in August. Posted by: dallas that is choice brother! congrats on a big accomplishment. sounds like fun. way to go Posted by: Dave Location: Japan I've been toying with the idea of running a marathon, but I really like the 5ks. I think I'll give a longer distance a try sometime. Thanks Sam Posted by: Anonymous Hey Steve! You know... I'm sure a marathon would be very difficult and very challenging. I just might have to give it a shot sometime. As for the Wasatch Back? Some of the runners in the race said it was more challenging in some ways than a marathon. Some of the runners in the race had to run over four miles straight up hill. That seems pretty intense to me. Posted by: Rahilio Location: Grand Junction Way to go Mr. Farnsworth, not a fan of running but sounds like you had a great time. Wanna do the Ride the Rockies next year? Posted by: S.P. Location: Utah Sam, you should try a marathon... Posted by: Sadie Location: GJ I think the Wasatch was such a blast. It is a very creative style of racing. It took a lot of training to build up the endurance that was needed to even make it through some of the legs! GO Rapid Thigh Movement! Posted by: steve The Wasatch Back is overrated. you should try running a marathon instead and then we'll talk. Posted by: Saskia Location: Salt Lake City What a great summary of a crazy race. In a lot of ways, running 3 legs over a 30 hour period is tougher than a marathon but the benefit with this race is spending time getting to know people in your van. It was a pleasure to meet (and run) with you! Posted by: Melanie Location: Grand Junction Wow - My Brother has entered a neighborhood team in the Wasatch Back relay for a few years. He was short two woman this year and so my daughter and I subbed in. He told us both we would have "easy" legs; my schedule was hectic and I never checked. I ran leg 3 in the heat. (urghhh) My next leg at about 11:00pm (lovely!) and my final leg was 8 miles with lots of uphill (so tough!) The team was super talented and we ran the event in under 27 hours. After our night runs, we drove to a cabin to get a couple hours of shut eye. We were told it was just down the road from leg 24 - where the final van 2 runner meets the first runner in van one. The exchanges had changed from the year before and the cabin was about 5 miles back. We ended up having a Police escort so we could drive down a road the that closed to that direction of traffic for race day. It was classic. By the time we finally hit the bead, we had one hour and 15 minutes to sleep. What a day. Congrats to you! |
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