RRR
Relay Races Rule
In 2004 my wife was invited by a family member to be a part of the first RAGNAR relay. In 2004 it was called the Wasatch Back Relay and there were only 25 teams registered. My wife was excited about it and I thought running was just a suffer fest. As the planning for this event developed my wife told me that I needed to start training because I was an alternate. I do what she tells me and of course had to run because somebody dropped out. I am so glad that I was a part of that team. Running a race from Logan to Park City in hopefully under 24 hours is an interesting quest. I will definitely remember that first year as a turning point in my own life where I truly became a runner. I love running now and enjoy running with friends, family, and clients.
The RAGNAR events are all over the country now and the Wasatch Back in UTAH sells out every year now with over 1,100 teams. It is a huge event and has a much different feel than it did 8 years ago.
I have participated in the RAGNAR Wasatch Back Relay 7 of the last 8 years; I missed 2010 for an awesome family reunion in Colorado. The Wasatch Back showed me that my body could really run 15+ miles and accomplishes this in daylight or the dark of night and brutal heat or very cold temps. These events are first and foremost a social team event. The success of a team is dependent on having people that enjoy being together in a car for 24 hours. If you want to participate get people together that are enjoyable to be with or great people that you want to get to know better.
Because I love the relay concept when the Red Rock Relay announced they were starting a race in Southern UTAH I jumped on board. This race starts in Brianhead and goes from 11,000 ft. all the way to ZION at about 3,000 ft. This is an incredible course. This event has been absolutely amazing the last 2 years. I am excited to do the MOAB race next year.
The RED ROCK RELAY starts by uploading the first runners on the Ski lift. The runners take the trail all the way back down and pass off to the next runner. Then the course heads over to the Dixie national forest. Running through this area is beautiful. Then the course heads down the canyon into Cedar City, then eventually all the way over to Snowcanyon in St. George. The finish is just below a very stellar rock formation near the entrance to Zion’s. This is my favorite relay event. There is no other relay that has the scenery and environment of this event. If you are participating this year in the RED ROCK RELAY please share photos with us.
When running gets hard it always helps to have great scenery. I find that the view keeps my mind thinking about how grateful I am to be able to run, and how thankful I am to be in this awesome place.
I have great memories from all these amazing events. Great friendships have been developed with many people over the years as a result of these great relays. There is still time to get in on the RED ROCK RELAY this year. http://redrockrelay.com
