Race Recap: Ragnar Road Michigan

Summarizing a 31 hour race is going to be tricky, but I’m going to try my best not to write a novel. 😂

It all began when my best friend, Alyssa, did the Bourbon Chase Ragnar last year. She loved the experience and knew I would too. So we looked at the race calendar for 2024 and chose the Michigan Road race. Before I go any further, you may not know what the hell a Ragnar relay is. 

There are two types: road and trail. Ours was a road relay which is a team of 12 completing approximately 200 miles of running and driving start to fonosh. Each runner runs 3 legs (there’s also an ultra version where it’s only 6 runners). We had two vans of 6 women and started at 8am Friday 9/20 and ran until we finished on Saturday 9/21. 

Our team name was “Twelve Random Running Hoosiers” because that’s exactly what we were. The team started with me and Alyssa and then I started recruiting. Here’s the team I ended up putting together.

Van 1 

• me
• Alyssa 
• Sue Young (a former roommate and running buddy)
• Eileen Poore (badass mother runner I met through my podcast)
• Jennifer Nei (a fellow Rachel Michelle Running athlete)
• Kallie Bonnell (an Indy and Lake Wawasee friend)

Van 2

• Olga (joined from me sharing on Instagram)
• Ashley Smith (Olga’s friend)
• Rachel Lacy (an Indy connection and badass Burn bootcamp coach and personal trainer)
• Emily Coccaro (a Burn bootcamp member recruited by Rachel)
• Alyssa Zeller (a Burn bootcamp member recruited by Rachel) 
• Ashley Lewandowski (Alyssa Zeller’s sister)

Preparing for the Race

We registered in November of 2023 which gave us a whopping 10 months to recruit and prepare. Alyssa and Eileen had both done Ragnar relays previously which helped a lot. As we finalized the team we started to think about how to get all the planning done.

We got together for our first team dinner at the end of April at Sun King in Carmel City Center. Me, Alyssa Zeller, Eileen, Sue, Alyssa Stickley, Ashley Smith and Olga got together. At this point we had one spot still open, so Alyssa Z planned to recruit her sister, Ashley, which she successfully did.

Some of the team got together again in mid-June downtown Indy and created a GroupMe to communicate more details over the coming months. Some of the big items that need to be taken into account first were:

• Place to stay at the start line the night before the race
• Place to stay after finishing 
• Reserve big ass vans (15 passenger to be exact)

As you can imagine, it’s so hard to get 12 women together in person. We found it impossible with all of our different locations around Indy and life schedules. We messaged quite a bit using the GroupMe and then a few weeks from race weekend set a weekly Zoom to hop on and iron out details. Some of those details were:

• team name 
• van assignments 
• team swag 
• which legs everyone will be assigned 
• paces of each runner to determine start time
• grocery lists 
• packing lists 
• more info on how the event works explained by previous “Ragnarians”, Eileen and Alyssa

On one of these Zooms I met Emily virtually for the first time and found out she was about 10 weeks pregnant and still committed to doing the race. 😂 This was the same Zoom my kids decided they suddenly didn’t like watching TV and Sloane kept trying to “do my makeup” while Sydney was singing loudly. Never fails. 

And just like that, it was race week. I started keeping an actual packing list for myself of everything I wanted to bring. 

• Garmin
• Garmin charger
• Eye mask 
• Sweatshirts
• Pants 
  
• Weed 
  
• Stanley 
  
• Bluetooth speaker and charger
  
• Sheets 
  
• Blanket
  
• Pillow 
  
• Towels 
  
• Snacks 
  
• Cash
  
• Cooler tote 
  
• Suction cups / binder clips 
  
• Drink shaker
  
• Extra charger block 
  
• Mini karaoke machine
  
• Swim suit
  
• Cash
  
• Sharpie
  
• Target bags
  
• Scissors
  
• Paper towels
  
• Phone clip for van
  
• Earplugs
  
• Kleenex 
  
• Zip lock bags 
  
• Chapstick 
  
• Bun maker
  
• Hair ties
  
• Brush
  
• Squirrel nut butter
  
• Deodorant
  
• Band aids
  
• Trash bags
  
• Phone charger 
  
• Sunscreen 
  
• Shower wipes 
  
• Face wash
  
• Toothpaste
  
• Toothbrush
  
• Medicine 
  
• Underwear 
  
• T-shirts 
  
• Headphones charger
  
• Headphones
  
• Sports bra x 3
  
• Shorts x 3
  
• Socks x 3
  
• Sunglasses 
  
• Massage stick
  
• Tail lights 
  
• Headlamp 
  
• Reflective vest
  
• Running water bottle
  
• Glitter tattoos 
  
• Running hat
  
• Running fuel 
  
• Running shoes

Sue offered up two, three-person tents and Jennifer had the big cooler. I ended up going grocery shopping for our van and here’s what that looked like:

• Peanut butter
• Cinnamon Raisin bagels
  
• Chocolate milk
  
• Water jugs 
  
• Ice 
  
• Chocolate Honey Stinger
  
• Plain bagels
  
• Bananas
  
• Strawberry pop tarts
  
• Potato chips
  
• Animal crackers 
  
• Applesauce pouches 
  
• Uncrustables 
  
• Regular Coke
  
• Trash Bags
  
• Hydration drinks 
  
• Fruit snacks
  
• Graham crackers
  
• Coffee concentrate 

We determined when and where to meet. We left Thursday at 12:30 from a Meijer parking lot. Kallie, if you’re reading this - any Meijer will do. 

Our start time on Friday was 8am. This was later in the morning than we’d expected because of what Alyssa had experienced with her Ragnar (like a 5am start). Thank goodness. 

Just after 12:30, Sue pulled up maneuvering our giant van with her hands at 10 and 2. We all loaded our shit into the van which certainly took some finagling (our husbands never let us pack the van). We also noticed a pleasant surprise - our van already had a name on the driver side door in black vinyl. “Sandy”

Since I get carsick, I offered to drive the first leg of the trip and Alyssa sat shotgun offering to drive next. Then came Sue in the first bench, Kallie and Jennifer in the second, and Eileen in the backseat of the van. And we were off. 

PSA for future Ragnarians renting older vans for these races. Bring a (reliable) Bluetooth speaker.  Ours only had a spot for an AUX cord which none of our smartphones support anymore. Good thing I brought my mini karaoke machine gifted to my girls by my sister-in-law. (It worked for a while at least.) Sue also brought a USB cigarette lighter adapter (very official term I’m sure) and a vent clip to hold a phone for the driver and navigator.

The ride up was uneventful, thankfully. I drove the first two hours, then we stopped for a bathroom break since we were all hydrating. Then two more hours with Alyssa driving and then I drove the last two. The drive got prettier and prettier after we drove past downtown Grand Rapids. There were some leaves starting to change and we started to feel like we were out in the wilderness. 

We headed straight to check in to our hotel, Hotel Indigo, right across from where we’d start the race in the morning. There was a ton of construction happening on the main street in Traverse City, but it was still a beautiful sight to see. While we loaded our stuff onto a luggage cart (only one I may add!) Eileen checked us in. When she showed me one of the rooms we would be staying in, I got goosebumps. 311. In case you don’t already know, I host a running podcast, Finish Lines & Milestones. Episode 6 features my friend, Alex Baker, who I had only met briefly before having the opportunity to interview him. He lost his wife, Amanda, to cancer and 311 was one of her favorite bands. The number has shown up for me many times after Alex shared his story with me and it’s so special. 

Eileen and I decided we needed to stay in 311 and Sue and Alyssa joined us. Jennifer and Kallie would bunk with Olga and Ashley S from van 2. Speaking of van 2, they were a couple hours behind us and we got word that they planned to stop for dinner and we shouldn’t wait for them. At this point it was already after 7pm and I usually eat an early dinner with my little kids - like 5:30pm early. I was hangry (sorry teammates). 

But we still needed to decorate the van windows with the paint markers we brought. We knew better than to wait until the morning and the nice valet offered to keep our van out front so we could complete the task before dinner. We all dropped our stuff in our rooms and met by the van. I’d briefly looked up some examples of other van decorations and we got to work. There was a list of all of our names with three checkboxes - one for each leg. Then, I drew the logo on the back window - our team one and the Ragnar one. Kallie drew stick figures of each of us and we all signed our names.

When we were satisfied with the van, we made our way into downtown Traverse City, about a 10 minute walk from our hotel. The homemade pasta place was booked for the night, but we found a cute little pizza joint with a rooftop, Pangea’s Pizza. It’s now after 8pm and we are all starving. The single server for the rooftop is in deep conversation with the only other patrons and we’re all anxiously waiting to order. Once we did, our eyes were definitely bigger than our stomachs. Pizzas, french fries, breadsticks. All of the carbs. When I ordered, I said something like, “I’m going to make my own pizza with prosciutto and onions.” You know, for the “create your own” pizza option… Deadpan, the server says, “Would you like an apron with that?” I was very confused in my food deprived state. He got me good. I didn’t hear exactly what he said, so he repeated it. I’m thinking… Alyssa made her own pizza and he didn’t ask her that… “What the fuck?” I say as the server smiles and everyone laughs. I’m finally in on the joke and my hangry mood lightens. Maybe this is a “you had to be there moment” but it was pretty funny. We all wondered how often he used that line… Towards the end of our meal, we got to watch the harvest moon rise over the trees. It was incredible, but we were all more than ready to get back to our beds. 

When we got back to our room, I handed out the Giant Hoodies I made with our team logo on the front. I’d asked everyone for one word I could put on the sleeve to help tell them apart and also for added motivation. Here’s a list of what everyone picked. 

• Me - porsche (nod to Sia’s Unstoppable)
• Alyssa S - tempo 
• Sue - one step 
• Jennifer - forward 
• Kallie - drishti (Sanskrit for focus and intention)
• Eileen - unbreakable 
• Olga - glory (pain is temporary, glory is forever)
• Ashley S - one (go one more at a time)
• Ashley L - impossible 
• Emily - survival (she was about 13 weeks pregnant)
• Rachel - perseverance 
• Alyssa Z - gratitude 

Trying to get a decent group picture in a bedroom with zero lighting was hilarious. Ultimately, the six of us ended up in the giant shower and used the selfie stick I brought to capture this. Be honest, can you tell we’re in a shower? Ha

And then we all sat on the beds and waited for van 2 to arrive so we could finally all be in the same room. When they did, they all awkwardly squeezed into our hotel room and we all exchanged pleasantries since many of us had never met. 

I passed out the remaining sweatshirts to the newcomers and then Ashley S and Olga surprised the team with adorable gift bags that had our team name on them and were filled with all kinds of goodies. Granola bar, fruit snacks, cooling towel, lip balm and of course stickers I made along with my favorite “Run The Mile You’re In” tattoo. 

I attempted to hand out more tattoos for everyone to use on race day. Thanks to Shea Aquilano I discovered these amazing under eye l, gold tattoos that I’ve started using for races. No one wanted any at the time. Pretty sure we were all nervous zombies ready for bed. Everyone filled out to their rooms and it was time for some much needed sleep.

Thankfully, our room was team white noise and Eileen played some on her phone. Funny enough around 4am it started playing spa music and all kinds of shit so I turned hers off and switched to my trusty White Noise app beach waves. After that, it was hard to get back to sleep because my mind started thinking about the days ahead. But I did eventually fall back to sleep because my 5:30 alarm woke me from a dream. Go time!

Race Day(s) 

If you’ve read any of my race recaps before you know that I have a pretty regimented race morning routine. After brushing my teeth, I immediately made a cup of coffee to get things moving. If you’re a runner, you know. 

I was kicking myself for not bringing my toaster to the hotel like I’d joked about doing (and like I’d actually done before). Kallie and Jennifer had the bagels and I had the peanut butter, so we met up for what we deemed the “bagel swap”. 

It’s usually hard for me to eat on race morning, but I forced down my cinnamon raisin bagel with peanut butter and bananas. I like the peanut butter that has honey in it. The coffee did the trick and I was able to go to the bathroom (thank the lord). 

And just like that it was time to get dressed and ready to go. I covered my body in Squirrel Nut Butter and put on my clothes and shoes. These days I wear a hat if it might rain, so I added one just in case. We gathered in the bathroom to apply our tattoos. Since we had to checkout we packed up all of our stuff and headed down to the lobby. A couple girls grabbed coffee from the bar while we waited for the van. My nerves sent me to the bathroom “one more time”.

It’s funny, I’m usually alone on race morning these days. So, all of my stress is kept to myself. But being the first runner and not knowing exactly what to expect at the start l was starting to panic a little. Our van was supposed to be checked in by 7:30 and it was 7:15. The start was right across the street but there was a ton of construction on the road out front so we needed to drive over. Being the control freak that I am, I hopped in the front seat and offered to drive us over.

On two wheels, I steered us into the parking lot and parked in one of the first spots I saw. I was ready to sprint to the start with excitement. When we got to checkin we received our bibs and slap bracelet but forgot to bring our required safety items. *face palm* I looked at Alyssa and I thinks she knew what I was going to say before I said it. She ran to the van to get the stuff. 

Meanwhile, the emcee is introducing teams and I’m thinking I’m late. It took a few more minutes before I realized there was a group starting at 7:30am… whew. When I realized this I could breathe. Well, breathe and apologize to everyone in my van for my stress. Kallie was a gracious stress absorber and made me feel at ease. 

We were unsure whether or not I’d have to wear my night time gear to start with the daytime hours “technically” starting a minute after we were scheduled to take off. A lot of people had their stuff on, so I did too. 

Thankfully, the extra time meant that we could get some photos. I pictured everyone from our team coming out to the start for an IG worthy photo of us in front of the lake in our matching sweatshirts. That did not happen. Only a few girls from the other van came to the start - Rachel, Emily and Alyssa Z. And Jennifer left her sweatshirt in the van. 

So this is what we got!

And a few more

When it was time to line up at the start there were probably 10-12 teams in our starting group. All of the leg 1 runners lined up on one side of the start and their teams lined the starting chute on the other side.

I loved hearing all of the team names announced. There was a Taylor Swift themed one (of course) that had a birthday girl - Tortured Runners Department I think. Then one that was something like “This Will Be Shorter Than A Midwest Goodbye”. It seemed like a mix of people who had done it before and more men than women (at least for leg 1). 

So about Leg 1… I found out 15 minutes before starting from Alyssa Z that Leg 1 had changed from 7 something to 6.1 miles. The additional distance ended up in someone else’s leg - Jennifer’s I think. Ironically Jennifer and I had swapped legs because of the elevation in leg 1. I’m not good at reading elevation profiles, but this did look daunting. So, I wasn’t disappointed about losing distance. 

The emcee counted us down from 10 and we were off running along the lake. The route started on sidewalks with a view of the lake, but after about a half a mile we turned left to head south. With a small group, we spread out quick but I found myself with a few guys for the flatter portion of the leg. I did opt to listen to music since I figured I’d need all the help I could get to get up the hill I knew was coming.

While they say they don’t do it anymore, there’s the term “Kill” in Ragnar to designate when you pass another runner during your leg. I opted not to keep track although a lot of people did. I definitely passed a few guys but only one I really remember because he passed me first. It was as we were starting to feel some incline and I didn’t care. 

There were also a couple of stoplights during this leg and thankfully I got lucky and didn’t have to stand and wait. Since they don’t close down the roads for the race, you’re on your own at intersections. 

I was ready for the hill to be terrible… and it was. Sometime around the time we really started to climb I saw our van pass me honking and cheering. Just the boost I needed to make my way to the top. My steady climb allowed me to pass the guy who passed me and leave him behind. I could still see a guy a quarter mile or so ahead of me and I kept working my way towards him. 

Another Ragnar thing is that the course is marked by quite a few blue signs that were attached to big cones. Most had a small flashing red light on top. 

Some of them said motivational or funny things, and when you were one mile away from the end of your leg that was marked by one of these as well. 

So I’m making my way up this hill and it turns out of sight. You guessed it, once I make my way around the curve it’s STILL GOING UP. I felt mentally prepared for this at least. And while it felt like it was going up forever I knew it had to stop going up at one point so that’s what I focused on - “it never always gets worse”.

I’d gotten pretty close to the guy in front of me thanks to my determination and a stoplight where he had to wait for a few. I was pretty sure he didn’t know I was there because once he noticed he let me know that he was NOT going to be passed. When he took off I knew I wouldn’t catch him. Hell, I was just trying to close the gap and hang on. 

It was fun hearing the cheers of other teams up ahead. Everyone waiting for their first runners to come in and pass the bracelet to the next runner. I could see all of the members of my team up ahead and our second runner, Jennifer, waiting for me in the exchange. A spot designated by four cones and some tape along with signage. 

Here’s me coming into the first exchange. 

And here are my splits if you’re at all curious.

It felt good to be done with that one. After Jennifer was out of sight we walked over to the van. Jennifer’s first leg was 7.4 miles, so we had some time for me to change. My strategy was to change into my next running outfit instead of needing to change another time before running again.

But priorities… first, I had to grab a paint marker and check off my first leg on the window of our van!

Then, I changed out of my sweaty clothes while we used towels to shield me from others. I used a shower wipe for a quick “shower” (although first I tried using these deodorant wipes I thought were shower wipes 😂). I replaced my running shoes with my Oofos (if you don’t have a pair you should). 

At one point, a guy came over and put a magnet on our van. Perplexed, I looked at the magnet and saw they’d made a team magnet to hand out. Apparently this is a thing! I was so bummed I didn’t have the chance to make one for us. Their team name was Sloppy Seconds. 

Once I was “clean” and dressed. We all loaded back in the van to head to the next exchange. These rides now mostly blur together. We didn’t have a plan as to who would drive when, we just winged it. Pretty sure I was in the passenger seat as we drove the 7 or so miles Jennifer was running. We honked and cheered when we passed her. 

The order of our runners was:
- Me
- Jennifer
- Alyssa
- Sue
- Kallie
- Eileen 

We picked the order based generally on the distances and difficulty everyone was comfortable with. When we got to exchange #2, Alyssa was dressed and ready for her first leg of 3.1 miles. 

We cheered Jennifer in from her long, 7.4 leg that was designated as “hard”. 

For all of the first leg finishes we all made it a point to be at the exchange cheering, but as the race went on, we’d find that the attempts at rest - and whatever else we needed to take care of - usually meant there would be at least some of us there, but not necessarily everyone. 

Distances for all of the first legs:
- Me - 6.11
- Jennifer - 7.36
- Alyssa - 3.11
- Sue - 6.85
- Kallie - 2.79
- Eileen - 2.92

Once Eileen took off for her first leg, we headed to our first “Major Exchange” where we would pass the slap bracelet to Van 2. 

The exchange was like an expo or start line with vendors set up and a big finish/start arch for the exchange instead of just cones. 

At this point it was just after noon, so our team took about 4 hours to run all of our first legs. It was nice to see all of Van 2. While we waited for Eileen, we chatted about how the morning had gone so far and what each of their upcoming legs looked like. And of course we got a team photo (only missing Eileen). 

Once Eileen came through and handed off to Rachel, Van 2 was off to the next exchange and our van got our first notable break. We were all ready for a meal. Especially me… hangry again. 

We did a lap around the tents and I was tickled to see that Butt Napkins was a sponsor. When I first discovered this product and brand I immediately reached out to them on IG and got to interview their Founder, Ryan, on my podcast. Listen to his story here. 

There was a photo booth so we hit that up as well (you know how I love a photo booth ). 

And while the girls shopped, my hangry ass went and got a table at the nearby restaurant, St. Ambrose Cellars. I was SO ready for a meal after  snacking all morning. The place was swamped since it was the only restaurant on the property. But there were actual indoor bathrooms which was a huge treat. And I ordered a cheeseburger and a beer (my usual post run meal). I figured the beer would help me relax and maybe even sleep for a few minutes. 

It was so nice to sit and enjoy some good food. The weather was really nice - partly cloudy and not too warm. 

Once we finished eating, we had a longer drive to the next exchange because we had to drive all of the miles Van 2 would be running. So we went from major exchange to major exchange. And this one was at a park with a beach, Onekama Village Park. The beach was off of Portage Lake that feeds into Lake Michigan. We got there a little before 3pm and estimated that we had until around 6:15 or so until I would take off on my second leg, Leg 13. 

I set up a bed on the bench of the van with a fitted sheet and my pillow and blanket. We hung sheets in the window and left the AC on to keep in cool and comfortable. It was hard to sleep. Shocking I know. I rested my eyes for a while but I’m not sure I ever fully fell asleep. When I got up I enjoyed the view with Alyssa and Kallie and used the bathroom (back to porta potties at the park). 

Then, we bought some deli sandwiches from some people selling them to save for another “meal”, since we would likely arrive at the next major exchange in the middle of the night and didn’t know if we’d find anything else along the way. Turned out to be a very smart move. 

Not too long before I was about to take off, we found van 2 and chatted with them for a few minutes. I don’t remember 

My second leg was 7.5 miles and classified as Hard. Probably because of the mix of distance and some elevation (but about half of what I experienced in the first leg). So, I was nervous but not as much as I was for the first one. 

According to my Strava, I took off around 6:15pm, a little under 10 hours since I first ran. Right after I started, I felt like I needed to go to the bathroom. 💩 😬 I decided to ignore it. The first mile or so was beautiful because I got a nice view of the lake. I passed quite a few runners on my way out, cheering on each one as I passed. Once the lake was out of view, there was a bit of elevation and only a couple runners nearby. 

About 45 minutes in, I noticed a van parked with some people up ahead. It was my people! Such a nice surprise seeing them pulled over and cheering for me. They got out their big orange flag and crossed the street to give me high fives. 

Another one of the memories I have from this leg was an adorable couple stationed at the top of a hill in lawn chairs with a cooler of water. Thank you, kind strangers!

And when we were nearing the end I remember the guy ahead of me peeling off to the side of the road to pee. When he rejoined right in front of me I shouted, “Lucky!” since I was struggling to avoid shitting myself. 😫

Thankfully I made it to the exchange without pooping my pants but I immediately needed a bathroom. 

Here are my splits for the leg.

I raced towards the porta potties only to realize there was a long line. I clearly looked like I just finished running and I’m sure I looked distressed. “What if you’re about to shit your pants? Can you cut the line?” I said frantically. Not sure anyone spoke but I assumed the answer was yes and went ahead of everyone (thank you, kind strangers). 

Unfortunately, I was in such a hurry that I forgot about my tail light and lost it (still on) in the nastiness below. Lucky for me they came in a pack of two from Amazon, so I had a backup and vowed not to make the same mistake again. 

This exchange was at a casino, so the parking lot was huge. I walked over to the van and noticed there was a giant sprinkler on the other side of the parking lot. I immediately grabbed my face wash and hobbled over. As I leaned my face into the icy water, I thought a nearby volunteer was going to scold me, but instead she told me she was surprised I was the only one using it. I felt the same way and thoroughly enjoyed my sprinkler “shower”.

Once I was done rinsing, I changed into my third set of running clothes and we got ready to hit the road for the next exchange. I joked about sneaking into the casino for a few rolls of the dice but we decided against it. 

The rest of the second legs looked like this:
- Jennifer - 7.53
- Alyssa - 7.8
- Sue - 4.49
- Kallie - 7.44
- Eileen - 9.12

It was still light out when Jennifer took off but the sun was starting to set. One of my favorite memories from the entire weekend is when Sue didn’t skip a beat while driving the 15 passenger van and punched a mosquito that was on the windshield. And I happened to catch it on video.

We were all jealous of the gorgeous sunset Jennifer was getting to run towards. It was so beautiful. 

We looked for a place to pull over and cheer her on about halfway into her leg. I marked off my second leg and we waited for Jennifer to round the corner. I handed her some glow bracelets as she passed for even more light heading into darkness. 

PS - The socks I’m wearing were a gift from Eileen and say badass mother runner. ❤️

We made it to the next exchange that was another church parking lot. Before doing the race I would have assumed that they’d let you in to use the bathrooms, but now I get why they wouldn’t want 100s of sweaty and dirty people using their bathrooms. 🤣 

The deli sandwiches we bought at the last major exchange came in handy and I was ready to eat “dinner”. The Italian meats hit the spot (that’s what she said). 

Now it’s completely dark and after 8pm. Alyssa is up next and we all stand with her by the exchange area. It was so hard in the darkness to tell what incoming runners looked like. We all tried to remember what lights Jennifer had on. Eventually, we saw the brightest light coming and it was her! Alyssa took off on her longest leg. Like my first leg, the distance of hers had changed too and she wasn’t looking forward to running nearly 8 miles at night. 

We drove around halfway or so and found a spot to pull over and wait for Alyssa to run by. We attempted to use Find My Friends for an exact location but the service sucked so bad we didn’t have luck with tracking very well. During her first Ragnar in Kentucky, Alyssa encountered a guy walking by himself down the road in the middle of the night which freaked us all out to hear about. We were out in the middle of nowhere and wanted to make sure we all stayed safe. 

Similar to waiting for Jennifer at the end of her leg, we waited in the dark trying to do running math and figure out when Alyssa might be coming. Then, we’d study the incoming lights and try to determine which one was her.

Once we saw her we distracted her enough where she damn near tripped! Thankfully she caught herself and as she ran by we all climbed back in the van to head to the exchange. 

Next up was Sue for a 4.5 mile run. Sue was really nervous about the dark. I mean, I was too. It was DARK. 

But look at this amazing picture of her brave smile. So proud of her for facing her fear head on and getting it done. 

Then Kallie had her longest run of about 7.5 miles and assured all of us it would be very slow. It wasn’t. Did we stop halfway to cheer? I’m sure we did. It’s all a blur. 

Last but far from least was Eileen’s second leg of a whopping 9 miles in the dark. If you don’t know Eileen’s story you HAVE to listen to episode 17 of Finish Lines and Milestones. The fact that she was able to run ALONE in the middle of the night is unbelievable to me. She is truly unbreakable (the word on her sweatshirt). 

We definitely stopped near halfway to check in on Eileen. It’s now 1am. We watched some creepy (and probably drunk) locals high tail it down a dark road with a dead end. I kept thinking about how brave Eileen was. 

When people have asked me what my favorite part of the race was it was this. Middle of the night, middle of nowhere, sitting on the warm hood of the van looking at the stars and cheering on random runners and our own runners. While the dark was eerie it was equally magical. 

When we got to the major exchange we thought we saw a building that may have real bathrooms. No such luck, they were locked. We brushed our teeth by the porta potties. I hoped this would trigger my body into thinking it was time to sleep…

Then we waited for Eileen. 

When she rounded the corner towards her finish line she was going so fast and her light was so bright I thought she was a car. Not kidding. I was also delirious and tired at this point. We screamed for her and immediately got yelled at by others, “IT’S NIGHTTIME HOURS!” Oops. We didn’t care. I wanted to tell them all her story. How BIG what she just did was, but instead went to hug Eileen. We were DONE with the night. Everyone was safe and now it was time to try to sleep. I don’t even remember seeing our other teammates at this point but they had to have been there and Rachel Lacy must have taken the bracelet to start their share of the night. 

But we now had to drive about 40 minutes to the next major exchange so when we wake up we’re in the place we need to be. All I wanted to do was pitch a tent right then and there, but we had to move on.

The major exchange where we’d “sleep” had a field to park and a field for sleeping. We got there around 2am or so and thank god Sue’s husband, Will, taught her how to pitch the tent. I would have been no use. Eileen and Kallie decided to sleep in the van and Jennifer decided to sleep in her changing pop up tent by laying it on its side. 

I brought my good Lagoon pillow and soft cozy blanket and tried to remember the last time I’d slept in a tent. I couldn’t. There were also people sleeping under the stars on the ground. It was kind of eerie looking out over everyone. I turned on my sound machine to drown out the silence and light chatter of our surroundings and laid down. We estimated my next leg would start around 6:30am, so I set an alarm for 5:30 so i could get up and eat something before. 

No need for an alarm. A DJ started around 5:30 and we were up. I know I slept some so that was something. The race morning adrenaline did the rest for preparing me for my third and final leg of 3.5 miles. It was still night so I’d be running in the dark after all. Lucky for me, there were waves of “sprint” teams taking off at the same time as I was. These teams only did one of the three legs as a team (I think). 

So, I ran near a few people the whole time. I didn’t realize how shitty my headlamp is (or how much it needed a new battery) until this run. I got lucky and ran behind a woman who had a headlamp so powerful it provided light for both of us. Good thing because we ran mostly on uneven sidewalks. 

Ended up with a sub 8 minute pace. Something about the dark made the miles fly by. Probably helped that it was also my shortest leg of the race. 

I was so happy to be done, but when I got to the exchange Jennifer wasn’t there. I’d seen this happen to a couple other runners over the course of the day and I felt bad for them not having anyone there to hand off to. I awkwardly stood in exchange zone breathing hard and looking around. A few people helped yell our team number to hopefully make someone on my team aware that I was back and waiting. After what felt like an eternity but was likely about 90 seconds in reality, Jennifer came running up and I handed over the bracelet with a sigh of relief. Now I was done.

The rest of the leg three leg distances looked like this:
- Jennifer - 2.02
- Alyssa - 4.47
- Sue - 3.11
- Kallie - 6.21
- Eileen - 6.33

So, I didn’t change right away. Kallie grabbed me a coffee and donut from the exchange and then we climbed into the van to head to the next one.

Out of all of the exchange locations, this one was the prettiest. The sun was rising and there was a field of sunflowers and beautiful gardens. So, naturally we took a bunch of photos and I recorded a video for my girls. 

Oh, and at one point I drew a couple rows of hearts and flames on the van as you can kind of see here.

As we headed to the next exchange, Eileen offered to drive the van for the first time and I of course had to document. That isn’t a knock on Eileen. Alyssa, Sue and I felt like we did just fine rotating between the three of us - and Kallie too. Jennifer didn’t want to drive the gigantic van and I didn’t blame her. 

It was so beautiful driving while the sun was coming all the way up. 

And when we parked at the exchange I couldn’t wait to see Alyssa run by with the sunset as her backdrop. The pictures turned out way better in my mind but you get the idea. It was an absolutely stunning morning. 

Now half of our van was completely done with our race! We marked off our check boxes on the van window to seal the deal.

I only know that I drove to the next exchange because I took amazing pictures of Sue running by a lake out the window while driving. I promise I was ready to sacrifice my phone to ensure safety. But the pictures were awesome especially since I just held my phone out the window snapping away while looking ahead at the road. 

Sue finished her final leg at 8:30am and off went Kallie.

This exchange was a campground near Lake Michigan, so I walked over to see the view with Jennifer and Alyssa.

Kallie was worried about this leg. The sun had come up and it was starting to get warm. We found her about halfway and she was utterly miserable. Her music wasn’t working and I tried to give her my phone but couldn’t connect to her AirPods without her case which was in the van who knows where. She was near tears when I saw her and I wished I could have done more to help.

The next exchange was at this cute little church where we met the sweetest volunteers of all time. There was an old man directing traffic into the parking lot wearing a Ragnar hat and these ladies giving out coffee and snacks on the porch of the church. We chatted with them for a bit and they said they’ve been volunteering for this race for years and years. 

Kallie made it and was DONE. She told us she had a good cry which she needed. 

Eileen took off for her final miles. Miles she wasn’t sure she’d be able to string together at the start of the race but now faced without fear. At least from where I was standing. Still in awe of her strength. 

After Eileen took off, Sue and Kallie marked off their final legs on the side of the van and we headed to our final exchange. Finally! It was now almost 10am. 

Eileen had about six miles to run so we found a spot about 3 miles in to stop and cheer. It was now very warm - like summer hot.

And after she ran by we now headed to our final exchange. Hard to believe! What a blur.

At the final exchange there was the tiniest parking lot of the entire event but we managed to make our own parking spot alongside the porta potties. We found van 2 and they had some signs. That’s Emily holding the signs and Alyssa Z admiring them. 

All of us gathered to wait for Eileen and we found out that poor, pregnant Emily had stepped on a LIVE SNAKE during her night leg. She said it curled when she did and scared the shit out of her. Out of all of the things to be worried about in the dark this wasn’t one of them. She said she cried. I would have too. 

While waiting we got some good group pics. Someone insisted on taking our picture from behind too so enjoy this picture of our asses.

And then when Eileen arrived we got our first team photo of the trip!

And van 1 was DONE!! We said goodbye to van 2 and started the 45 min drive to the FINISH LINE. But first we would stop at our Airbnb to drop off our stuff. Sue, Jennifer and Eileen wanted immediate showers and I wanted immediate food. Alyssa and Kallie obliged and we decided we would go out for lunch once we got there. I was hangry again and snacks weren’t going to cut it. 

But first thing was first. Eileen marked off her final leg on the van!

I found a restaurant within a half a mile walk and Alyssa, Kallie and I headed out. We sat in a giant Adirondack chair and waited a few minutes for them to open. 

Docker’s Fish House for anyone who might have made it this far because they want to know everything there is to know about the Ragnar Road Michigan. We sat outside by the water and I got a cheeseburger and beer. It was perfect. 

Once they were done showering, Sue, Eileen and Jennifer met us out and got the table next to us. Now it was our turn to head home and get clean. 

We found a shortcut on the way home that made the restaurant even closer. But we did get a lot of burrs on our shoes and clothes. 😂 Worth it.

The tent you can see in this picture was at the house across the street from us. It looked like a wedding reception! Don’t worry we didn’t have the energy to crash.

Once the others were done eating and we had showered it was time to walk to the finish! It was about a 10 min walk which wasn’t too bad. It was warm and Kallie let me borrow one of her tank tops because I would have sweat to death in the race tshirt. 

The finish area was on the beach and it was beautiful. Loud music and lots of teams waiting for their final runner. We hustled because we thought Emily was closer than she actually was and Van 2 didn’t give us that memo. We were concerned they were going to miss her finish but thankfully that wasn’t the case.

We realized after watching others finish that the tradition is to run with your last runner as an entire team across the finish line. Running in the sand in my Oofos was tricky business but it was a really fun experience. 

Ashley L (Alyssa’s sister) had volunteered to run the last couple miles with Emily because it was hot and miserable and Emily was pregnant. I loved seeing her cross the finish line. What a freaking trooper. I was so grateful she decided to still do the race with us while pregnant. 

And that was it! Completely done! 31 hours and some change to run 200-ish miles down the western coast of Michigan. It was challenging and so much fun. 

We got some team photos and then planned our celebration - food, drinks and music by the beach. 

Next up... Ragnar in Zion in May 2026? Who's in?