How it All Started

On March 23, 2007, I received an e-mail with the most devastating news one could imagine. My colleague and friend, Tracy, was sharing the news that she had been diagnosed with colon cancer. Tracy is young and the kind of person we all strive to be like: a loving mother to a five year-old, amazing professional, dedicated wife and active member of her church and community. Tracy lives in Houston, and other than sending her warm thoughts and prayers what could I do to help?

That weekend, I ran in the Mercer Island 10k. When I finished the race and was browsing through the booths I saw a sign that stated the race had been to benefit colon cancer awareness. I was planning to run a half marathon in April and had been thinking about my next big challenge after that. I had just read about a new race in the Pacific Northwest called the Ragnar Relay where 12 runners would cover 189 miles in approximately 24 hours. The realization came over me like a bolt of lightning. What if I could find 11 other runners who knew Tracy or had been touched by cancer and would like to join me in this crazy endeavor? We would call ourselves Team Tracy and dedicate the race to her. We would send Tracy our love and prayers as we trained and when we raced. And, with Tracy’s support we would try to raise some money for the Baylor Medical College where she was receiving her treatment.

I don’t think any of us, with the possible exception of Julie R. who had run in the Hood to Coast race before, really knew what we were signing up for. I am sitting down to write this exactly 24 hours after our last runner crossed the finish line. And I have been sleeping for 14 of those hours. This race was an incredible experience that tested all of our limits of fitness, our ability to endure sleep deprivation, overcome illness and injury. But I think all of us feel incredibly proud to have been part of something that was bigger than ourselves. And at the end of the day, while we hope that we were a source of support and energy for Tracy – it was her inspiration that gave us strength and allowed us to finish the race strong.

               Team Tracy met to discuss logistics and get to know each other several times between April and July. As novices, it took us a while to figure out things like it would be better to rent a van (so nobody’s car would get trashed with banana peels and smelly shorts) and renting a campsite would probably be superfluous since we wouldn’t have much time for sleep anyway. The day before the race my husband Steve and runner Liz made a Costco run to load up on carbohydrates. At 5pm Steve, Vikki, the two Julie’s and Greg (our team photographer) met at Enterprise to rent the vans. Enterprise had nearly given Steve heart failure earlier in the day. We reserved the vans way back in May having heard that it was difficult to find 12-person vans. Every month Steve called to confirm. Then, the day before the race Enterprise called to confirm they had our one van ready. ONE van???!!! No, it was supposed to be TWO vans! Enterprise said they would “see what they could do” and thank heavens when we arrived they had a 15-person van ready for us. Now why would one need a 12 or 15-person van when each van only needs to carry 6 runners? When a van becomes your home for nearly 30 hours, trust me, you want as much space as possible!

                We also had our hours of anxiety the week before the race, when much to her great distress team member Susan had to drop out. Susan had just received an offer of a terrific new job and promotion – the problem was it was in Chicago and she had to leave the next week! The team put out its feelers, but given that the race started on a Friday, the challenge was to find someone who could take a day off of work as well as be sufficiently conditioned to participate in an event like this. Ultimately, it was the e-mail distribution list for triathletes at Microsoft that provided us with runner #12 – Adam. And what a fantastic addition Adam was to our team. More about that later, but Adam jumped right in, became our lead off runner and brought tons of fun and energy to the team. THANK YOU again Adam!

               The final act of preparation was to load up on carbohydrates the night before the race. The team met at Julie’s house for a spaghetti dinner and debated the merits of having beer or wine the night before the race. Suffice it to say much more water was consumed, and much less alcohol than at most parties. Julie took the team through all the rules (things like reflective vests must be worn between the hours of 8pm and 6am, and no peeing on the side of the road!). We retired early and tried to get some precious hours of sleep.

                At 5:30 am, Van #1 met at the Building 22 parking lot and loaded up. Van #2 wasn’t far behind with a 6am start. Although Van #2 wouldn’t start running until approximately 2:45 that same afternoon, we all wanted to be together to cheer each other on at the start. The drive to Blaine took a little over 2 hours and we arrived at about 7:45 in time to see the first wave of runners leave at 8am. The race organizers ask each team to estimate their average running pace. Based on pace, the slowest teams leave first and the fastest teams leave late so that everyone, in theory, arrives around the same time at the finish line. 

                There were lots of vans at the start including one with a team in Viking helmets and another wearing pink tutus (yes there was a prize for most spirited team and best decorated van and team). We painted our car windows and made posters while we waited for the start. When the race director called out that there were two runners looking for a team to join, we gave it some serious thought. Vikki had not been feeling well for several weeks, and a few days before had started to feel quite ill. The last thing we wanted to do was make Vikki run and get sicker. But Vikki had put so much into preparing and was determined to race, despite not feeling well. Since our goal was to finish – not to win – we assured Vikki that even if she had to walk, no one would be disappointed. As you will hear later, she did a lot more than just walk! 

At 8:45 the race director called us to the starting line – there were about 15 teams in the 9am wave. He went over a few general rules and then we were off. Our new team member Adam was our lead off runner. We were all worried for Adam, because although he is a sprint triathlete, he hadn’t done distance running before and his first and last legs were both quite challenging – 6.2 and 7.8 miles. But as we learned later, Adam was more than up to the challenge – in fact – he brought Team Tracy in first in his first leg, the only point in the race, when we would actually hold that position! But it was fun while it lasted!

               So how did the race work? Each van had 6 runners. Each runner had to run 3 legs that varied in distance from 2.4 miles and a rating of “Easy”, to a distance of 9.0 miles and a rating of “Very Hard”. Total miles assigned to each runner varied from 11.1 to 21.4. (See the table at the end for who ran what). For those unfamiliar with the relay format, van #1 would drop off their first runner, and then drive ahead to the next “Exchange” to have the second runner ready to receive the “baton” – a snap on blue wrist band. Along the way, they would stop to cheer on their runner and offer water. Part of the fun was cheering on runners from other vans and getting support from them.

                Another responsibility of the van was to make sure their runner stayed on course. Although all the turns were marked with signs, there were times when the signs were not placed in the easiest spot to see. And in the case of van #2, we had a runner follow the pack when the pack collectively ran the wrong way! When we realized our runner was missing from the course, we back-tracked to an intersection where our van had initially driven the wrong way. We reasoned that was the most logical place that our runner could get off track and sure enough found him two miles later along with two other runners. We picked him up and dropped him off two miles into the correct course. Technically that may have earned us some sort of penalty, but since we weren’t competing to win and this was on one of the longest legs, we weren’t about to ask him to run those extra miles.

               At the “Major Exchanges”, van #1 would hand off to van #2 and the process repeated itself. In fact, on the finishing medals it says “Run, Drive, Sleep, Repeat”. We would agree with that, except for the Sleep part. There wasn’t a whole lot of that happening! At the Major Exchanges there were showers and in the later Exchanges a place to sleep. At Exchange 18 that was the floor of a gymnasium. As bad as that sounds, at least there they had hot showers, mats for the floor and total darkness. This was as good as it got. At all the other Exchanges the showers were cold, and you either slept outside on the ground, or in a gym that was partially lighted with no floor mats. (Note to self: next time pack a mat to sleep on.) Needless to say, our hours of sleep at these Exchanges ranged from 10 minutes to 4 hours at best. You were able to eat and get your rest while the other van was racing. You also had to use that time to drive to the next Exchange.

                The running itself was a lot of fun (well, okay, at least for the first leg). The course had beautiful scenery as much of it was along the coast. One of the most dramatic legs was #24 when Lori got to run over Deception Pass in the middle of the night. Ah, night time running. That was a source of anxiety for a lot of us. At night each runner was required to wear a reflective vest and headlamp or carry a flashlight. At night the vans were allowed to “shadow” their runners. In other words, keep the runner in sight at all times, but not drive beside them for safety reasons. Because the event was relatively small – 58 teams competed altogether – there were many times when there were no other runners or vans in sight. This could become somewhat disconcerting as you questioned, did I go the right way? Ever so reassuring was when you could see another runner’s bouncing headlamp, or the LED flashing turn signs indicating you really were on course.

               Nighttime had the advantage of cool air and a certain air of peacefulness. There was also less traffic, but since it was Friday night one did worry a bit more about the potential for a drunk driver, so we all stayed alert and got well off the road when a car came toward us. The course had us running against traffic for almost the whole race. In my opinion, that was the best choice since you could see who was coming towards you and react if needed. The most dramatic nighttime run was probably Blake’s. Blake’s leg #22 called for him to complete the leg after running the last 2 miles through a trail in the woods. Although the trail was paved, it sounds like it was an eerie experience with shiny animal eyes and mosquitoes to keep him company. We heard later from the race director that they will change that part of the course next year.

                It’s worth noting again that this was the first year that the Ragnar Relay has held their Northwest Passage event. Although we would suggest hot showers and better signage as improvements, it really seemed to be a very well organized event. One key part of the race was its volunteers. Each team located within 100 miles was required to supply three volunteers. Team Tracy had four fantastic volunteers. Julie’s dad and step mom, John and Linda, who live on Whidbey Island were kind enough to work a 4am-10am shift at Exchange 32. Julie ran leg 31 and thought that would finish at Exchange 32, but the way the race works leg 31 actually finishes at Exchange 31. Oh well, Julie got to see them when the van pulled in at the next Exchange. It turns out that although they arrived on time the race organizers didn’t actually bring them their volunteer materials until 5am, and the first runners didn’t come through until 7:45! The main role of the volunteers was to mark the time each team came through the Exchange and to be on hand in case any help was needed. They had a good time visiting with the teams, went home and took a nap!

               Our other volunteers were Debbie and Wade. And Debbie was our volunteer extraordinaire, because she also designed and ordered our Team Tracy t-shirts which are beautiful! We got to see Debbie at the finish line where she and Wade were tracking the teams as they came close to the finish line and calling them in over walkie talkie so their team mates could be ready to join them for the final dash through the finish line. Debbie and Wade had a 12-7 shift, and were hard at work for many hours after our team finished and headed home for bed. THANK YOU John, Linda, Debbie and Wade – we couldn’t have done it without you!

                Lori had the last leg of the race. And what a tough one it was. It was 6.3 miles in the hot sun with lots of hills. When we saw Lori coming around the corner we popped a Team Tracy t-shirt on her and we all ran the last few hundred feet and through the finish line together. Or maybe I should say hobbled through the finish line together. It is amazing how stiff the body can become in the hours after you finish your leg. For some of us, those were the most painful yards of the entire race! But oh, was it worth it to have those finisher medals placed around our necks and our team photo taken.

               Ultimately, Team Tracy finished 45 out of 58 teams. The race took us 29 hours, 22 minutes and 5 seconds. Along the way team members battled through our share of difficulties. Despite being sick Vikki ran all of her legs at an amazingly fast pace, and actually felt better when she finished than when she started. Two team members had terrible stomach problems.  Other runners acquired nasty blisters, sore knees and probably many other ailments that were kept private. But what is more amazing is that despite all these issues, our team finished 19 minutes AHEAD of our projected finish time of 29 hours 41 minutes.  The projected finish time was based on everyone’s 10k running pace. That means, how fast you can run 10k when it’s flat and you’re healthy. So that’s how much heart and spirit the team put in. And besides, like I said earlier, we weren’t running this to compete with others  –  we were running this for Tracy. A lot of people along the way asked us who Tracy was. We told her she was this amazing woman who was fighting colon cancer. Many people shared their stories of friends or relatives who had cancer. We were proud to be running for someone as special as Tracy. We are excited to share all our photographs and mementoes with Tracy. 

 

The team had lunch at a cute café in Fairhaven. I had a bagel with chicken and Swiss cheese. I also drank a large Gatorade.

This course was short but evil. The only reason it earned a Moderate rating instead of Hard was because it was relatively short. The sun was beating down when I took my first wrist band from Julie R. at the Exchange. I wasn’t really warmed up. After waiting around all afternoon, I thought we had more time than we really did. I had accidentally left van #2’s runner bibs in van #1. That meant van #1 had to arrive before their runner and hand off the bibs to me. I went to affix the bib to my shirt and there were no safety pins (I managed to lose those somehow). I quickly looked around and asked (not very politely), anyone to hand me over some pins. Luckily someone quickly gave me 2 pins and I was able get the bib on before Julie came through.

Then, I was off! It was HOT. At one point a young man zoomed past me. As I slogged along, I came to a stop light at a major intersection where he had clearly been waiting for some time. It must have driven him crazy that I actually caught up to him. Not that that lasted. As I mentioned, this course was short but bad. There was a 500 foot elevation gain between mile 2.5 and 3.5 that was a series of nasty switch backs. I walked a good portion of them, but tried to keep the pace brisk.

Race nutrition included a few cliff shot blocks. I was so amped up that I kept forgetting to eat. The van trailed me for a good portion and gave me lots of honks for support.

Average HR:  171. Average pace 11:28

The team had dinner at a café in La Conner. I had beef ravioli. At the Exchange there were lovely hot showers in the middle school gymnasium. It felt great to be clean, even though that only lasted for about 2 hours before I was up again and off on my next leg. Total sleep was probably about 15 minutes. The other van called me about an hour before they arrived, and then again 20 minutes before their arrival. I was so worried I would sleep through my phone vibrating that I couldn’t really sleep. Also, there were all kinds of noises from the other runners (phones beeping, people talking etc.)

When the final call came I got up and got ready and ran to the Exchange point around the corner from the school. I had managed to lose my pins again. We got some tape from the nurse, but that wasn’t holding the bib. Luckily another kind bystander gave up one of their pins, and that was good enough for me. Only Steve was with me when we made the hand off. I didn’t want to wake anybody up just to cheer me on. Even an extra 15 minutes of sleep would be precious. This leg started at 10:52pm.

I took off in the darkness with my headlamp and reflective vest on. Initially I was running through the town and there were lots of street lamps. At night the turn signs had blinking LED lights. This was great because when you could see the next sign in the distance you knew you were on course. For the first two miles I saw quite a few other runners and their vans. Because of this I wasn’t worried about running without my van. They caught up to me probably around mile 2 or 3.

Although this was long and hard, it was my favorite leg. I loved running in the dark. In the beginning when I was by myself following the signs I felt very strong and empowered. How many women, never mind people, are brave enough to do something like that? Also, the air was cool, it was quieter and just incredibly peaceful. Because it was so dark, I couldn’t see the two big hills that I had to climb. I just climbed them. Near the end of the route is when the bat buzz bombed my head. There was one other time when I almost screamed because of my shadow. It popped up suddenly in front of me and it looked like a stranger jumping out of the bushes. Yikes!

Average HR: 165, pace: 10:44

At the Coupeville Elementary gymnasium where we had our next rest break, the conditions were less than optimal. The gym wasn’t fully dark, there weren’t any mats and Steve and I immediately sized up the situation and joined Trent who had already sacked out in the van. I took the middle seat and Steve reclined the driver seat. We got close to 2 ½ hours sleep. Heaven! When I woke up at 7am I couldn’t get back to sleep. I had at least another hour before I had to get up according to our schedule, but I was too worried that van #1 might come in early. 

While I was waiting I took advantage of the first aid station. During the night time run I had felt my sock starting to rub a blister into my toe. I wasn’t sure if it was poor fitting shoes/socks or if it was the extended time that I had to run on a road with significant banking. When I have had to do that in the past, it invariably causes the start of blisters, but usually my runs aren’t as long as 8.5 miles. I also managed to acquire a nasty chafing injury on my thigh from my running shorts. They were new, and although I had run with them for shorter runs, I hadn’t run with them this far. Oh why didn’t I just put Body Glide everywhere?

It was nice to take my time getting ready. I ate a cliff bar and enjoyed a non-fat latte from the coffee shop down the street. I also drank some more Gatorade.

This leg started off at 8:57am with a lovely flat stretch. The sky was overcast and as I ran toward the ocean there was a slight mist. I was running all alone for about the first two miles and it was quiet and peaceful. Then came another Mr. Nasty Hill. It was about +400 feet over 1 mile. The view was spectacular of Admiralty Bay in the Strait of Juan De Fuca. There was a steep descent, and then the last 1.6 miles were flat. This was utterly a mental run at this point. I saw my HR drifting down as I slowed down, and I kept trying to push it back up to at least 163 (AET+20). I thought about wanting to do well for the team, wanting to do well for Tracy. Finally I resorted to repeating my mantra over and over again: “I’ve got the Power”.

When I finally got to the exchange, I was so disappointed not to see my dad and step mom there. They were volunteers and I thought they’d be at this exchange. It turned out I had given them the wrong instructions. I had thought if I ran leg #31, then I would hand off at exchange #32. But it turns out that you hand off at the exchange numbered the same as your leg. Oh well. We shadowed Trent for a while then drove ahead to the next exchange where dad and Linda had just come off their volunteer shift. It was fun to hear some of their stories and tell them about our experience. What a relief it was to have my legs all done. I felt bad for the other runners who had to wait and wait to be finished.

When I finished this leg I discovered a huge blister on my left foot on my bunion. Ironically my heel gave me very little trouble during the whole relay. (I was diagnosed with Achilles Insertion Tendonitis 2 weeks before the race and given a riser for my orthotic. It had been painful even to walk, never mind run until just a couple days before the race). Yes, it hurt, but not severely and was overshadowed by the pain of my blisters and chafing – which in relative terms was really not that bad.

Average HR: 160, pace 10:21

I am so pleased with my recovery. Yes, I’m exhausted from sleep loss. I slept 14 hours on Saturday night. My blisters hurt. But other than some mild stiffness, my legs are in great shape. I feel really good about my level of preparedness. I think the trick for me now is to just lose some dang weight to get some free speed, and then I’ll pull down some really respectable times.