Ragnar running veterans, some last minute questions

[Deleted]

Read this: sarahoual.com/2012/08/21/so-you-want-to-are-got-roped-into-running-a-relay/

Sarah has done many relays and loves it. This may help!

[zoidberg]

Cjoy on the ML board has done at least one, you could ask over there.

[Deleted]

Dup

[cole]

Apr 29, 2013 14:01:55 GMT -5 @vtcupcake said:

Since I've got an insane week I'm going to try to pack tonight/tomorrow, and am going over some last minute decisions and logistics.

1. What did you do about changing/etc between legs- did you sit in the van with your race stuff on the entire time or did you find someplace to pull over to change?
2. What was your favorite food in the van?
3. What items did you bring that weren't used at all?
4. What items did you NOT bring that you wish you had?
5. How much cash did you bring with you for beer/food/etc as part of the race experience?
6. Is there anything else I should know?
7. If you live on or near the Cape, wanna cheer us on this weekend?

Thanks so much!

For clothes/changes, I got an awesome tip from someone. Bring either baby wipes or "power shower" wipes and wipe down after running. Then put on what you'll be wearing for the next run. So you'll always be in dry clean clothes. Bring gallon ziplock bags with you to put the worn clothes in and seal them up and throw them in your bag. (At home, they'll smell terrible when you open it, but straight in the washer and it'll keep your can fresher). We changed as we were driving and had no issues.

For driving, we did a rotation. Whoever was on deck was navigator and in the hole was driver. So during #1, runner 2 navigate and runner 3 drove. During 2, 3 navigated and 4 drove, while 1 got the whole back to cool off and change. That kept driving even and always gave the on deck time to prep.

Fav food was bagels and peanut butter and apples. And fruit snacks. PB was messy, but filling.

I packed light so I can't think of anything I personally didn't use, but our van definitely had too much food.

I was really cold at night, and would opt for an extra blanket next time around. Or even a towel that may have secondary use. But something!

I think I had $40 or 50 on hand but honestly don't remember.

Have a blast!!

[InBetweenDays]

I haven't done Ragnar yet (doing Northwest Passage in July) but I did Hood to Coast last year.

1. What did you do about changing/etc between legs- did you sit in the van with your race stuff on the entire time or did you find someplace to pull over to change?
I changed at the exchange point after mine. So when I was done I got into the van and we headed right to the next transition to make sure we were there to meet our runner. I'd change there.

2. What was your favorite food in the van?
I brought the makings for peanut butter and stuff sandwiches which are peanut butter, jelly, sliced apple, and sliced banana. SO good. Someone had veggies and hummus which tasted great too.

3. What items did you bring that weren't used at all?
Power bar type bars and gels.

4. What items did you NOT bring that you wish you had?
I had a HUGE craving for sour cream and onion potato chips. No idea why, but I got some at a store and they tasted amazing. This year I'll probably bring a bag. At least a bag of some snack with some salt.

5. How much cash did you bring with you for beer/food/etc as part of the race experience?
I don't remember, but probably $100? Although I didn't spend anywhere near that.

6. Is there anything else I should know?
You may already plan to do this, but pack each running outfit in a separate baggie - socks, shorts/pants, shirt, sport bra, etc. Makes it much easier to find everything you need. Also, bring some ear plugs. We slept in a field for about an hour and it was pretty loud with generators and the volunteers calling out team numbers. If I hadn't had the ear plugs I wouldn't have gotten any sleep (got probably an hour as it is).

7. If you live on or near the Cape, wanna cheer us on this weekend?
I wish I could! I'm excited to hear how it goes because I'd love to do that race sometime.

Have fun!!

[clseale]

1. What did you do about changing/etc between legs- did you sit in the van with your race stuff on the entire time or did you find someplace to pull over to change?
I only changed after my 2nd leg. We were heading into the overnight portion and had just passed off to van 2. We were at a high school, so I washed myself with body wipes, threw on some compression socks, and changed into a clean pair of running clothes.

2. What was your favorite food in the van?
Fruit and bagels.

3. What items did you bring that weren't used at all?
I didn't bring much, so I basically used everything. You don't go through as much food as you think. We probably had too much food.

4. What items did you NOT bring that you wish you had?
Nothing really. Some of the larger vans had room for single pop-up tents. If we had room, I wish I had one of those. It was impossible to sleep in the van.

5. How much cash did you bring with you for beer/food/etc as part of the race experience?
I think I had $40 on me and that was more than enough. We had some tolls we had to pay in south FL

HAVE FUN!!!

[runblondie26]

Good luck VT! Hope you have a lot of fun!

Mine experience went something like this:

1) It was Ragnar FLK, so during the day we went to the beach in our running clothes, then just changed into a new set of clothes afterwards in the bath houses. For our one night portion, I just baby-wiped down then put on yoga pants and a tee.

2) Gummy bears, peanut butter filled pretzels, mini Marathon Energy Bars

3) Hmm, I guess we travelled light. Everything got used. I highly preferred knuckle lights to a headlamp for the nightime running though.

4) We stopped at Target and bought cheap pillows. It was hard to get comfortable on the van and that helped.

5) DH was with me, he was my wallet. Not really sure how much we spent, but I don't think much during the actual race. We ate "fourth meal" at a diner the first night, and then had lunch as a beachfront cafe the next day. All our other eating was snacking along the way in the van.

No idea how much we spent on meals and bars in Key West afterwards, and not sure I want to know. That was the pricey part.

6) There were showers offerred at some of the exchange points. They were soooo crowded and funky looking, we didn't want to deal with them. Living in our filth for 30 hours seemed like the preferable option 

Edit: After reading clseale's post, double YES to the COMPRESSION SOCKS! Your legs will probably be tight and cramped by the second leg, and certainly by the 3rd. Not sure what I would have done without mine.