After running the Ragnar Relay on an Ultra team in 2014 I knew I wanted to do it again in 2015. This time around though, I would be the captain. Well, co-captain as it turns out. After discussing it with some friends and making sure I had 5 other crazy people that were willing to travel to Madison, WI and then run 200 miles back to Chicago, my good friend Jose and I decided to co-captain an Ultra Ragnar Relay team for the 2015 Chicago race. It took a lot of planning but we were able to field a pretty good team of runners with varied background and skill level.
We hit a few bumps in the road along the planning process with having to replace the same runner not once or twice, but three times. One runner had to pull out of the race because she became pregnant and she would be due around the time of the race. Her replacement had to drop out because of a detached retina that wouldn't be healed in time. The next replacement had to cancel due to a scheduling conflict that could not be helped. Finally we landed a runner a mere 3 weeks before the race due in most part to an awesome run group called the Fox Valley Run Junkees. A good friend of Jose's, Harish, was able to hook us up with our much needed runner as well as all three of our volunteers. Without his help, we would have had a hard time filling our team and would have had to pay for volunteers so a special thanks goes out to him.So now we had our team. Here was the line up...
Runner 1 - Chris Bork
Runner 2 - Jose del Risco
Runner 4 - Matt Sutton
Runner 5 -
Runner 6 - Ron Ermis
Van Driver - Anson Goode a.k.a. Morgan Freeman from Driving Miss Daisy
With six runners in the van and our driver, Anson Goode, we hit the road and headed to Madison Wisconsin. Jose was smart enough to set up a reservation at a nice restaurant the night before the race and so we all sat down for a good meal and to get to know each other. Several of us had never met and it helps to know the people you are about to spend 36 hours in a van with. By the end of the night poor Shannon got a glimpse into what is was going to be like being in a van with 6 guys for 36 hours.
Race Morning
The morning of the race came and we piled into the van in a light rain and headed for the start area. By the time we got there it was a full on downpour and we knew it was going to be an interesting start. Jose and I had to go gather our packets and attend the safety briefing while the rest of the team huddled under a picnic enclosure to try and stay dry. By the time we were done and Chris was getting ready to start Jose and I were soaked and the only sweatshirt I brought with me was as well. Keep in mind it was June but it was raining and temps were only in the upper 60's. So Chris lines up at the start and after a few minutes the MC starts to get the crowd pumped. He called out all of the different team names. I swear, I am horrible at naming teams and wish we had come up with something better than Midwest Vikings Ultra Team 1 but what can you do. After all the teams that were starting at 7:30 were announced, the horn blew and they were off.
We all quickly piled back into the van and headed off to the next exchange.
Jose was up next and when Chris came cruising into the exchange he slapped the "baton" onto Jose's wrist and he was off. Jose was our fastest runner and so we had to hurry up and get to the next exchange so as not to leave him waiting. Jose being the fast and competitive runner that he is, finished faster than his predicted time but we were already there waiting for him to get there and so he didn't have to wait. Now as I understand it, that first leg of his had a considerable section that was all uphill but he powered through it and so next up came Shannon's turn.
Next up was Matt. Unfortunately I have no photo evidence of his first leg, I swear Matt completed his first leg and even came in ahead of schedule so here is a pic of Matt starting one of his other legs(I have no idea which one).Matt then handed off to Jesus, who having joined the team only 2 weeks prior, came out and put in a consistent performance. While not the fastest runner, he was methodical and ended up being the runner on our team with the most consistent pace. And let me tell you, holding a consistent pace over 30 or so miles in 36 hours is no small feat. Unfortunately, once again I have no pic of Matt handing off to Jesus the first time so here is a pic of a later exchange.
It was my turn next to take the baton and literally run with it. Jesus handed off to me and I was off. Now, I will preface this by saying that my first leg, was the longest leg of the entire race at 10 miles. I volunteered to be the 6th runner knowing that I was going to be running more than anyone else. I guess I'm a glutton for punishment. Not to mention I started in the early afternoon with the heat of the day. Ok, enough whoa-is-me. I put in my 10 miles on mostly trail and some road. It was beautiful and hot. I came in a bit behind schedule knowing that I still had another 7.5 mile leg coming next. Once I finished my leg we started the whole rotation over again and just like that we were 1/6 of the way done. It was going to be a long race.Now I'm not going to bore you with an exact accounting of everything that happened at each exchange, nor do I even recall all of it. I do know there was a lot of trash talking, van tagging, eating, hydrating, bodily functions and all around good times.
That all changed once dark came. By that time we had all run 3 legs and were starting to tire. Except for me that is, cause I'm awesome. Actually, I was just lucky. I caught a second wind and ran one of my shorter legs in a 8:30 pace. I will say that an unintended perk of running the 6th leg was that I got to be the first person on our team to see the lakefront. Running through Milwaukee in the very early morning around 4 a.m. it got really foggy so i took out my earbuds so I could listen for any traffic or other runners. I started hearing the waves and when I came to the top of a hill, there was Lake Michigan. It was still very dark so I could only make out the shoreline but I could hear the waves and smell the water and it just gave me an extra boost. Not to mention it was literally all downhill from there the last 3/4 of a mile to the next exchange where there were SMORES waiting for me. I handed off the baton to Chris and I think it was Jesus and I made a beeline for the campfires and smores.
We brought some back to the van for the others but at this point we were all just trying to get whatever sleep we could. Anson was passed out in the drivers seat and Jose was sleeping in the back. I finished my smore, changed and once we got to the next exchange I passed out for an hour. When I woke up, it was light outside and Jose was out doing one of his final runs. Of course it had started raining again. Might as well start the new day the way the previous one started. Fortunately, it didn't last long and was over by the time Jose handed off to Shannon.
We grabbed some breakfast form McDonald's(very healthy) and used the facilities. You have no idea how nice it is to use a real bathroom after a day and a half of nothing but port-o-potties. We made decent time the second day but we were behind our initial projections. All of us were tired and sore. By the time we got down to our last set of legs, we were all excited and ready to be done. By the time I got the hand off from Jesus it was mid afternoon and it was hot. 7.5 miles to go to the finish at Montrose Beach in Chicago. By this time I was very tired and sore and the only reason I was able to keep going at even a moderate pace was knowing that it was almost over. I did the best i could to keep going but I am not ashamed to say that I did a fair bit of walking. Once I hit the City and started making my way down Sheridan Rd. I got a little extra energy. There were quite a few runners around and we were all encouraging each other as we passed. At some point a bystander that I passed made a comment about how I was running weird and another runner close behind me said something along the lines of "you'd be running funny too if you just ran 200 miles". I had to chuckle at that as she passed me by.
When i finally hit the lakefront path I knew I was almost done. I run that path quite a bit during the summer so i knew just about how far it was to the finish. Passing by all the people that were out and about, grilling food and enjoying their Saturday, made me want to finish that much faster. I kicked into gear so i could finish strong and shortly after I saw my teammates waiting for me. We got together and crossed the finish line as a team. I would love to say that we partied the rest of the afternoon and enjoyed our celebratory beers, but we didn't. We were all done. Just tired and hungry and ready to be clean. We took our pictures, hit the merchandise tent and then went home. Anti-climactic I know. But as cliche as it sounds, it wasn't the destination that mattered. It was most definitely the journey.
Special Thanks....
Harish Pai for helping to bring Jesus onto the team as well as finding our volunteers.
Midwest Vikings for providing Gu, Gatorade, Blocks and other items for the team.
A few things that I was asked to add by the team after the writing of this article...
- The exchange that was a mile long and Jose handed the baton off early to Shannon just to find out there was a nasty hill just ahead. Shannon was cursing Jose out for that one.
- The several instances where Jose Farted at the door of the van and then walked away and left the rest of us to suffer.
- And the time Jose Ran the wrong way out of the Exchange and had to be chased down.
- Anson Snoring in the drivers seat. At one point he stopped and I though he died but then he started back up even worse.
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| This summed up our team pretty accurately |
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