Running from Responsibility: October 2012

Running from Responsibility competed in the Ragnar Trail Experiment on Friday, October 12th - Saturday, October 13th. It was quite the experiment. We had the perfect storm of bad weather. We had rain the day before which made the trails muddy, then about 30 minutes into the race the rain came pouring down. It was cold too. In fact, we did have some snow (nothing that stuck) and little bit of hail. We anticipated it would take us six hours to complete the first of three rounds of running, but it instead took us 9 hours. Ragnar learned a lot during their experiment, but I love the concept and look forward to doing another Ragnar Trail event again.

Sarah Kron, AnneMarie Sloan, James Sloan, Jenedy & Victor Eggleston, Danielle Sloan, Derek Sloan, Cary Jenkins

I (James) was the first runner and the third group to run Jolley's Gulch-Green (officially 3.9 miles, but with the scenic view it is 4.1). I had the fastest recorded time for that trail partly due to my mad running skills (he he) and partly due to the worsening weather. I even took a slight detour off the trail just so I could see the Narrows. A spectacular view that required my full attention for at least a minute or more. It was funny, because I was leading my heat with a guy right on my heels. He took advantage of my detour thinking he would win the heat. From there it was all up hill on the way back, so I dug deep and about a half of a mile later I caught up to him and passed him. I think I demoralized him. I didn't see him again until a few minutes after I finished. Take that Mr!

Representing the team!

Derek competing in his very first Ragnar as he prepares for next month's Las Vegas Ragnar ran right after me. He ran the Pine Knoll trail-Yellow (officially, 3.8 miles, but we are sure it was closer to 4.3 miles). A 500 foot elevation gain over a mile then the trail works it way back down over the remainder of the race. We think this was the hardest trail of the three, because of the combination of the elevation gain and loss and the mud. They closed the trail soon after Jenedy ran it (see below), because it was simply too dangerous.

Derek putting on his game face.

AnneMarie ran the Englestead-Red trail (officially, 7.2, but I clocked it at 7.5, yet the markings were so poor that a lot of people got lost). AnneMarie ran 8.33 miles on this trail. It was an up and down run that was a muddy sloppy mess. At one point, the trail was knee deep with water.

She got the jump down here, she would prefer you not see the team picture below, where her timing was a little off.

Victor ran Jolley's Gulch-Green and fortunately it was just light enough that he was able to take in the detour view of the Narrows. He ran well, only a few minutes behind my time.

Jenedy ran the Pine Knoll-Yellow trail. Again, probably the toughest trail of the race. She is one tough women! You may recall that just two months ago she gave birth to Honor. Both Victor and Jenedy had a cheer squad that included True, Honor and Victor's parents. It was wonderful to see the Egglestons. Right after Jenedy returned from her run, they stopped letting people run that trail. It was too dangerous. Jenedy described that there were a few areas that were so steep and muddy that she and another runner had to help each other up the steep terrain. It was dark by the time she finished her race.

My good friend Cary Jenkins who ran with us at Napa Valley ran the Englestead-Red trail started his run in the dark. Running in the dark on a regular Ragnar is invigorating. On the trails, it is a little nerve-racking. Since it was dark by now, many more people were getting lost. We aren't even sure he ran the full trail, but he did his best. He helped several people navigate their way back and even carried one women the last half mile of the trail to the finish line. When he came back, both he and Jenedy felt that the race should be cancelled. Fruthermore, the Englestead trail was sort of closed. They were still allowing runners to do it, but only at their own risk. At this point in the race, most teams had quit.

Sarah Kron, a family friend from Ohio who is attending BYU and is an avid runner, ran Jolley's Gulch-Green. She ran well. No complaints other than it was too dark to see the Narrows. While it wasn't what she had hoped for she was ready and did it.

Sarah getting her Ragnar on

Danielle was the last to run on our first rotation. She had been hearing about the not so pleasant experiences of Jenedy and Cary and started to feel anxious. We had heard about people breaking their feet or ankles, sprained ankles and one girl who had a nervous breakdown on the course, so I pulled her aside and said, "Honey, no judgement. If you don't want to run you don't have to. It really is not safe out there and I'd rather have an alive and healthy daughter, but it is your decision. I'm behind you 100% either way." She said, "Dad I came here to do this and I really want to try!" A proud papa moment! Derek offered to run with her (another proud papa moment), but she wanted to do it herself. We got her all ready and she was off. I was both nervous and proud as my baby girl headed out in the nasty weather to run Jolley's Gulch-Green (She was supposed to run the Pine Knoll-Yellow trail, but it was closed) and I had a prayer in my heart. She describes the run as fun and scary. For some of the run she was completely by herself. She said that when she started to really get scared, she belted out at the top of her lungs the primary song, "I am a Child of God." She said that helped. I'm glad she turns to the Lord for strength. Fortunately, she caught up with two other people running together and stuck with them the rest of the way. As she finished under the Ragnar Arch, I heard one of the race organizers say. "We're closing it. It just isn't safe anymore."

Danielle and I walked back to the cabin at midnight, took showers and we all fell fast asleep.

When I went to the 7am feedback meeting, I found out that five of the 43 teams kept going all night. They mostly ran Jolley's Gulch-Green, but some still ventured out to the Englestead-Red trail throughout the night. Not to be deterred, after my feedback meeting I set out to run Englestead-Red with the intent of hoping to also do Pine Knoll after that. 7.5 miles of beauty. The trail was extreemly muddy, but the views were spectacular. I'm glad I did it. When I was done, everyone was anxious to leave and I was exhausted anyway. We finished packing up and headed back to Provo and SLC.

What a fun and challenging experience. I definitely want to do that again, but I'm hopeful this will be the worst weather we have to face.

I'm happy to have run with such fun and tough people.

Here are some pictures.