{"id":39639,"date":"2016-12-20T11:53:00","date_gmt":"2016-12-20T16:53:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/runningmagazine.ca\/?p=39639"},"modified":"2016-12-20T11:54:52","modified_gmt":"2016-12-20T16:54:52","slug":"forming-ultimate-ragnar-relay-dream-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/runningmagazine.ca\/sections\/runs-races\/forming-ultimate-ragnar-relay-dream-team\/","title":{"rendered":"Forming the ultimate Ragnar Relay dream team"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Reebok Ragnar Relay Race. Photos – John Marsh \/ Rex Features<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Our van bumped along the New England route on its way to Cape Cod. I had just pounded out a fast 11 kilometres and was sitting in the back seat sipping water with my heart rate still elevated and sweat still flowing. It hadn’t even been ten minutes since I made it to the finish line. Sure, getting into a van crammed with team mates after a mid-morning race isn’t the ideal cool down, but we were running a Reebok Ragnar Relay so you can pretty much throw out all traditional race rituals.\u00a0A team that shows up to a Ragnar Relay typically consists of 12 runners– six to a\u00a0van. Each runner runs three legs for a team total of 200 miles over 24 hours. I had just met my team in Boston the day before. Sitting in the car, I had finished the first of the 36 stretches and as we drove to the next hand-off, I was about to get to know these strangers\u00a0much better.<\/p>\n

RELATED: Ragnar Relay: The Canadian Running experience<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

That was May of 2016. When I flew from Toronto to Boston to participate in that race– which happened to also be my first Ragnar Relay ever– I had no idea who was going to meet me on the other side. Knowing that I was running with other magazine journalists, I knew we’d at least have fitness and media interests in common. When you’re in a van for so long with other people though and you’re each running three races individually, it’s hard not to strengthen a bond– even if you’re strangers. In 24 hours, you eat together, cheer together, pass the time between races together and you rely on each other’s support to get through the mileage (especially during the nighttime stretches).<\/p>\n

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Van decoration \u2714 Tomorrow morning we race the first leg of #ragnarcapecod!<\/a><\/p>\n

A photo posted by canadianrunning (@canadianrunning) on