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On October 10th and 11th a group of 8 Leash Your Fitness runners participated in the Vail Lake Ragnar Trail Relay – over 24 hours of running 3 trails each, totaling 116 miles! This race is a physical, mental, and emotional challenge. But our runners trained hard and conquered it! With a team name crediting our favorite training partners, the Trail Dogs ran an unforgettable race!
Dogs were not allowed at Ragnar, but we brought photos of our 4 legged training partners to keep them with us in spirit! (L to R: Ana/Hines, Diane/Millie, Tammy/Franklin, Cathy/Marcy/Andy, Jen/Magnus, Jessica/Sheela, Naomi/Ali, Stephanie/Chami)
The event started on Friday morning at 11:00am. From that point on, one of the Trail Dogs was ALWAYS running until Saturday at 3:00pm. Each runner took a turn on the Red Loop (3.9 miles of very challenging hills), the Yellow Loop (4.5 miles of scenic hilly terrain), and the Green Loop (6 miles of mostly flat and scenic trail).
The daytime temperatures were well into the 90’s while the nighttime temps dropped into the 50’s. But the scenery was beautiful and helped take our minds off of the physical demands. Several runners realized how much they liked night running, which without this race they may have never tried! Between shifts we tried to catch what sleep we could at camp, ate, listened to a live band, got massages, did yoga, and took in the experience all around us. We were in the presence of some very elite athletes and a culture of fun-loving trail runners – some of the craziest people around!
One thing that was very special about this team was the camaraderie – if runners were awake they were always walking to the transition area with the next runner getting them ready to go and welcoming back the previous runner, bringing them ice towels in the heat and hot chocolate in the cold. We also had an amazing support team who were with us constantly to meet our every need. Crystal, Tony, and Danielle were the best volunteers anyone could ask for!
Several runners on our team have only started running recently, some are more experienced. All are hooked and ready for the next race! If you’ve ever wanted to become a runner but didn’t think you could, or even if you are a veteran runner, come join us at the Leash Your Fitness run class and get ready to have FUN with your training! You will find that there is a runner inside you ready to break out and accomplish something great. Maybe you will even decide to run with our Ragnar team next year! Stay tuned for more adventures from our Leash Your Fitness runners…future races are already in the works!
