Ragnar Hawaii: Part 1

Part 1 is going to be pre race and leg 1. The Montana Running Ranchers/Team Beef Montana was very excited to take our message to Hawaii!

Ragnar Hawaii might be my favorite relay yet. and also the hardest.   Most of my team flew over to Hawaii on the same plane from Denver. I was able to get a seat next to my friend Billie Jo and other than the man on the other side of me who suffered from severe halitosis it was a good flight. I managed to sleep a little and read a book.

the view from our balcony at first light.

We got into Hilo, got our vans and checked into our hotel in pretty good time. We had a nice view of the ocean from our balcony. Our team wasn't set to start the relay until 11:30 so we were able to have a relaxing morning.

We went to Walmart and decorated the vans and shopped for water and food to get us through the race. Evie and Billie Jo (top) and Sarah and I (picture below) have now run 5 relays together. I love these girls.  One girl was new to the team and the other Christy was coming back for her second year. Also amazing women. Our girls van rocked.

Huge thanks to all of our sponsors for helping us get to Hawaii and run while promoting the beef industry. We are all very passionate about what we do.
I was in van 1 and runner number 5.  It felt like 11:30 took forever to come around, but before we knew it, we were off! We started with two other teams and found out later that only two other teams started after us at noon. We were in the back of the pack with 7 hours of teams in front of us!

It's quiet at the back. Not a lot of vans at the exchanges, not many runners to drive by.

My first leg was also the "Ragnar Leg"

There is always that one leg that is longer, steeper, more challenging and more talked about than any other on the course - The Ragnar Leg. This tradition began with a brutal elevation challenge that ascended Guardsman’s Pass at the first Wasatch Back in 2004. Since then, it has become a tradition that Ragnarians are eager to embrace.

Things that come with a Ragnar leg include:

• A unique medal for each runner who conquers the Ragnar Leg - Powered by Reebok. Each location will have a unique design that features a strong sense of place and a sense of victory.
• Course signage to pump you up along the most challenging leg on the course
• A special Reebok arch and exchange area to help celebrate your accomplishment*

I don't usually take pictures while running, but it was so beautiful I had to take at least one!

I had 11.8 miles of hilliness. It was beautiful. and challenging. and hot. and thankfully there was some shade along the way. Once I got to mile 8 I knew it was in the bag. I was passed 3 times. I did pass someone back. Other than that I saw no other runners.  I carried water with me and my awesome van mates stopped and gave me water along the way as well..

It was a uphill to the exchange and I was so happy to be done!

We got into the 6th exchange to hand off to van 2 and found out we were the last ones in. They were packing things up. They did however let us pick the song for our runner to run into the exchange to, We chose Fight Song, It turned out to be a perfect choice for Billie Jo, as her daughter loves the song and it really motivated her. 

With that van 2 was off and running and we were off to the next major exchange to rest up.

and I had my Big Kahuna medal

Knowing we were at the back, but catching up was very motivating! We knew by our second leg we would be passing other teams.