For months I had dreaded my upcoming birthday, the big 3-0. I wasn't ready to let go of the 20's and wanted my final act before my birthday to reflect the progress my health has made this last year and to convince myself that I'm still young, numbers aside. My friend Kate gave me the perfect solution... to join her and three of my other college lacrosse buddies Molly, Kim and Denise in Seattle's Ragnar Northwest Passage Relay. Our full team, the Ragnar Schmagnars consisted of 12 people piled into 2 vans. Each person ran 3 different legs between 3 and 8 miles, while the remaining team members would follow along in the vans cheering the runners on. Between the 12 of us, we ran 188 miles in 28 hours down the scenic coastline of Washington from the seaside town of Blaine near Vancouver, through Deception Pass and ending at the tip of Whidbey Island. Adorned in matching hoodies and yellow sunglasses, we were ready to run. My legs totaled 16 miles, the 1st being the toughest at 8.8 miles, mostly uphill in the heat of the day. Having your friends cheering you on makes all the difference though. It was the most fun I've ever had running. It was great to see my friends again, and it felt just like old times. It was the perfect way to usher in the 30's. Thanks girls!!
In the end, we were awarded giant medals/bottle openers and enjoyed a scenic ferry ride back to Seattle. Later, we discovered, despite our incidences of getting lost and having too much fun at the relay exchange points to be ready with our next runner... after all, we were there to have fun and mock the runners who took the competition seriously (though secretly reveling in each opportunity to pass another runner during our legs), we took SECOND place in the relay! Yeah Schmagnars!! I like your style!
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| the Schmagnars' pimped out van |
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| Deception Pass |
A highlight: being bling-ed out with a reflective vest and head lamp. The pic above is my robot impression. Another highlight... between legs we discovered the most delectable soft-serve ice cream known to man. Yes, a return trip to Seattle is worth that alone.
This is the moment I finished my final leg. It felt great! Then we enjoyed some sight-seeing in the city and returned to Kate's house, where her husband Brian cooked the ladies the most incredible dinner. That night, in the final minutes before the clock struck midnight and my birthday began, Kate and Kim humored me with a little Zumba. Kate ignored the cries of her blistered feet and got into the groove. Much laughter ensued and Molly caught the moment on camera. We were so grateful to have our professional photo friend with us to perfectly capture our adventure. Thanks Molly!!
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| Molly and I holding up Canada at the race's starting point |
4 comments:
Way to go!!! 2nd place?! That's so great! You might be 30 but you look like you've just turned 20! I just had a chance to catch up with your Akidoland post. So fun! That's amazing that Rocky survived the Tower of Terror. I barely make it through that one.
Way to go! That is totally AWESOME!!! And it sounds like so much fun too!
Great job!
Love ya!
You guys won SECOND PLACE? Wow. You really are rockstars.
P.S. I wish you lived closer. I would be enrolling Adam in your Transformer preschool.
Amazing...that's all I can say.
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