About 5 weeks ago, a friend from high school asked if I wanted to join her Zion Ragnar trail team in May. They needed one more person to have a full team of 8. I have never been to Zion, let alone - Utah, so this sounded amazing. With the encouragement and support from my husband, I accepted the adventure and booked the flight to Vegas to meet up with my friend and her husband and make 5 new friends along the way. The team consisted of my friends who are living in Virginia and her crew teammates from college living in Indiana, Wyoming, and California.
Trail Ragnar consists of teams of 8 or 4 people completing 24 legs over two days while camping. On an 8 person team each person runs each of the 3 different loops once. It is a self supported run, with water along the longer loops, but you provide your own cups/water bottles. To learn more about Ragnar - Click Here.
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| Finish line and exchange zone |
Ragnar Zion is located at a resort just outside of Zion National Park. Everyone flew into Las Vegas and then drove about 4 hours to the race. Fortunately, we had to drive through the park to get to the race.
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Driving to the race - our first glimpse of Zion's
beauty as the sun was setting.
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| Goofing off while trying to move our gear to find a campsite |
The first four members of the team (myself included) arrived about 9:30pm the night before the race. By this point I had been up since 4:30am eastern time to catch the plane so that is 17 hours of being awake so far. We found a spot to set up our camp for the weekend and hit the sack. The next morning, we could see the layout of the tent city and one of the members found a better spot for our group, so we moved camp up a small hill. We could see runners starting the red/yellow loops and had plenty of space to spread out. It was a prime location.
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| View of our campsite Saturday morning |
With the expected heat, Ragnar advised the teams to start an hour early. I was number 1 runner so I started at 9:30am. The rest of our teammates arrived about 12:30 - just in time for their legs to start.
Green Loop Description:
"After leaving Ragnar Village on a dirt road you will quickly connect onto a single-track trail. This trail will connect you to single track bike and horse trails that will take you on a journey out to a beautiful view of Checkerboard in Zion National Park. Once you have taken all the photos you desire you will head back on a wide tracked horse trail that will take you back to the village. " - Ragnar website
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| Starting our team off with some cheers on the green loop |
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| Overlook of Zion on the green loop |
My first leg was the green loop which is considered the easiest. This loop was fun and a good wake-up call on running in the heat in altitude which was a new experience for me. The first mile, most people were already breathing hard even though it was pretty flat running. The footing wasn't technical, but the dirt was so loose it was like running at the beach. The overlooks to Zion were beautiful. I stopped several times to enjoy the overlooks. After about the first two miles, the singletrack trail got a bit rocky with more ups and downs, but the climbs were probably no more than 20-30 steps. I passed one person on this loop that was dealing with altitude sickness. I walked with her for a little bit the last mile before she said she was feeling better. Before too long, our loop met up with the other loops and I was on my way to the finish. I passed our team number to our team captain and friend, Sarah, for her to start the yellow loop.
Red Loop Description:
"You will head out with the yellow loop runners for the first mile and take a tour around Zion Ponderosa Ranch. You will then part ways from your friends on the Yellow Loop and continue up the trail through the trees, gaining 400 feet in about a mile and half... The ATV trail will keep going up up up! Pay attention to the signs as you will make a sharp right onto a single track trail and you will be on a roller coaster ride for about a mile through the pines going over several bridges. You will be rewarded with beautiful views of Zion National Park so bring your camera! Once you are off the single track it's all downhill from here! But you are only at the halfway mark. Be sure to fill up at the water station and hydrate before finishing up the final few miles on double track, road and some single track before returning to the Village."- Ragnar website
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| One of the many views of seeing forever from the Red Loop |
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Downhill singletrack trail. Views like this
made it easy for me not to pay attention to the trail and trip.
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Several bridges with chicken wire to cross
throughout all the loops.
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Could see for miles. Had to remind myself after a moment to
enjoy the view, to continue running as my teammates
wanted their turns too.
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I started my second leg, the red loop (and longest ~7.7miles) around 5:30pm. The rest of my team had all completed their first leg. My teammates would be enjoying the free dinner provided while I was out running. This was my favorite loop. Lots of climbs, but nothing too long, a fun downhill, singletrack switchbacks with incredible views. I also fell twice on this loop causing minor bleeding and bruising on my knees because I was looking everywhere, but the trail. Along this route, a gentleman was getting help from firemen and race medics. It was good reminder to just take your time and enjoy the scenery. Again the heat and elevation was a challenge. Staying properly fueled and hydrated was key.
Yellow Leg Description:
"The first mile provides panoramic views of Zion Ponderosa Ranch. At the beginning of the second mile you will encounter a scenic single track trail that climbs 400 ft. along a pristine ridge. Dig deep to get the the top where you will be rewarded with amazing vistas of Zion National Park! Once you have taken enough pictures you will then be on a downhill journey that twists and turns back to Ragnar Village." - Ragnar Village
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| Tent City lights from afar. |
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| Just me, the trails, and my headlamp |
My last leg, the yellow loop (~5 miles), started about 2:15am. I had laid down prior to running about 9:30pm hoping to catch some zzzz's, but I mostly just rested. My teammate came by my tent around 1:30am to let me know I was on deck to run. I got ready and headed down to the Ragnar village. I waited by the fire and listened for our team number, 52, to be called. Once it was called, I grabbed our bib number from Stefanie and started my last leg. My legs were pretty stiff on this leg. Finally around mile 2 they loosened up. This was a pitch black run except for what my headlamp illuminated. I was nervous of seeing a rattlesnake on this loop, as one of my teammates saw one earlier in the day. Fortunately snakes sleep at night, but a stick did give me a scare and I frightened the girl behind me as result. It was kind of funny. The footing and trail were difficult to see at times due to all the dust from the trails in the air. This was a great trail to end on. At one point on the trail, I could see lights from the red loop and from tent city sparkling below and the stars up above. At the top of a climb, with no one around, I turned off my headlamp and took a moment to observe the massive night sky. It was beautiful and reminded me of starry nights when I worked at a summer camp in college. About a mile from the finish, I came across a runner that was dizzy and nauseated. I offered to walk with her to make sure she was okay. She just wanted me to tell her team that she was a mile out. I ended up telling some volunteers at a turn about her since by the time I would finish, I wouldn't know for sure how close she would be. And just like that all my running legs were done.
I headed back to my tent, changed, and hoped to catch a few hours of sleep. I couldn't get warm, so I opened up 3 toe warmer packets that I had brought and spread them out from my feet to my hands to get warm. This helped and I might have caught an hour or two of sleep before getting up for the day.
Our team finished around 11am on Saturday. We were all able to run in and cross the finish together with our number 8 runner.
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| Purdue Crew conquers Ragnar Zion |
Rarely a race goes as expected and that is about all you can count on in a race. This race was hotter and windier (30-40mph wind) than normal for this time of year. We were wearing buffs around our necks and pulling them up around our faces when big gusts of dust would blow through the area. Also a teammate, unfortunately, got dehydrated and was no longer able to run after her first leg. Two of our runners were able to run her last two legs without issue. That is what a team is all about - taking care of each other, pulling together, doing what needs to get done, supporting, and cheering each other.
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| Departing views of Zion National Park |
This was my second Ragnar. It had just as many memories and adventures as the first. I loved running in a new place and getting to know my teammates and hearing their life stories. It made me fall in love with running all over again. Running is about the people, places, and adventures that cross your path at the perfect time making memories that last a lifetime.
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| "Live your stories now that you look forward to telling later." |
