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Wasatch Back Relay - Ragnar Events, LLC
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2 reviews for Wasatch Back Relay - Ragnar Events, LLC
The Wasatch Back Relay was the best running event that I have ever experienced. I was recruited to team #167 by a friend of a friend and ran the race with 10 soon-to-be-friends (one member of team didn't show due to a delayed flight). 300 teams of six to twelve people spread out over 177 miles of terrain from Logan to Park City and included three mountain passes, dirt roads, and crowded transition areas. I loved the painted vans - my favorite team was the Knights of Knee, a group that shared our same 11:00 AM start time and was named after Monty Python's Holy Grail. They clapped empty coconuts like horse hooves virtually the whole race, decorated a support vehicle with 6 foot rabbit ears and a rabbits tail, painted the words "run away, run away" on its windows, and finished only 10 minutes behind our group. They seemed to support our team as much as their own. The whole thing was just so crazy!!
My three assigned legs were not the hardest on the course, so I tried to make them fast and ended up averaging just over 7 minute miles over three stages that totaled 15+ miles. Our overall team average was just over an 8.5 minute mile and we finished with a total time of 25 hours and 48 minutes - which was fantastic considering the difficulty of the steep mountain stages.
After our van's first series of stages were complete in Eden, UT we jumped a hotel fence and took a quick dip the pool - kind of like we were back high school, but well worth it. Fellow van members also kindly rented a hotel room so we could rest and shower in Park City while we waited for our second van to finish. The pancake breakfast at Heber Middle School was fantastic, organization of the event was amazing. I'm definitely up for doing it again next year.
Helpful hint of the race - nail your nutrition. It was really important to hydrate and use recovery drinks and foods. Also, since the weather was so hot this year a shared bottle of Hammer Endurolytes was really valuable - it made a huge difference.
The relay is quite an event. I ran for a second time this year. The running, weather (hot and cold) and sleep deprivation should make this a miserable event. Instead it is a ritual filled with camaraderie and goofiness. While most vans are modestly decorated others are over the top. One of my favorites was the Xena warrior princess teams in full costume. Pretty funny, I ran with team Running Amuck and 2 Days and Confused and already signed up for next june.