Ragnar Northwest Passage Relay 2012 - The Captain's Log

This was my second time captaining a 12 person team at Ragnar Northwest Passage.  It does get easier, really.  I had a better idea of when to aim for finish recruiting runners, when to start sending out informational  emails to keep teammates invested and interested (if they wanted the info) and much less stress overall.

I'll admit it though.  I still get to the evening before the race and I'm still not certain that everyone is going to show up the next day.  I needn't have worried with this group.

12 Runners.  We brought the last one on in mid-June. He'd never even run in any race before but regularly ran trails at a park with very steep technical trails. He'd not have the mileage to handle a lot of distance but I sensed he'd have speed and a lot of it.  I had two marathoners/ultra runners who although weren't in what they considered their best shape would still be able to pound out a lot of miles (more on this later in the runner's version).  I had 4 total (including yours truly) returning runners.  All were in better shape than last year and had last year's event  experience to draw upon and I could draw on their experience to help me.  I had one fellow CoachLesley.com athlete who was coming off of great success at a half iron event last month.  He'd recruited his sister (who had the experience of previous marathons even though she'd not been running as much lately) and a friend who had solid running experiences.  Another CoachLesley.com athlete had joined the training group after initial team recruitment had started.  When I found out her goal event was in June, I jumped at the chance to ask her on to the team and she said yes! One gal had signed up last year but then immediately had to pull out because of a stress fracture.  She was back this year and excited to finally participate in an overnight relay.  It's always an interesting mix of how people get onto a team such as this.  I fully expected to have to replace a runner because of injury or illness or life circumstances.  I held my breath until the very day and they all came with great attitudes and great running.

2 Vans. I've heard some horror stories of not having vans available from rental agencies.  Until we are driving back home with two working rental vans, I am fearful. Last year there was a huge delay in picking up one van enough that we had a rental discounted by half because of pain and suffering. That delay directly cut into valuable sleep time last year and it wasn't worth the discount.  No such problems this year and I was better able to remind myself of what to check with the vans.  Note: take out all that weird stuff they have tucked into a compartment.  We need all of the space!

Tons of Supplies.  Or at least it seems like it.  Each van gets a cooler with two bags of ice and a large water cooler which I fill from our tap and place on tap of the cooler in the van.  It eliminates the need to bring lots of containers of water.  People can still bring their beverages of choice (no, not just beer) and have easy access to water. Each van also has a bin of shared use items such as a first aid kit, extra gels/electrolytes, tp, sunscreen, bug spray and of course some fun items like orange tutus.  I know that if i lose something in the van, i can go get something similar out of the shared use bin. It all fits into the van with a bit of cramming.  All sleeping gear can get squished into the under seat storage until needed later. Within one transition, of course, it looks like a whirlwind has hit and it never fails that if you need something it'll be at the bottom of the pile.  But people tend to sit in the same seats for the entire relay, people can keep track of their stuff well enough.

The attitudes. I find the more prepared I am in warning people what to expect and having them pack and prepare appropriately, everyone else can relax and focus on running and enjoying the experience. I expect everyone including myself to be out of it and less than coherent at times during the event but that's it.  No crankiness or whining ever seems to come up.  Everyone knew that this wasn't an easy event and there would be challenges and of course, they rose to those challenges.

The weather. That was something this year. Thundershowers with lightning on Friday morning in Seattle the day of the race.  It was a lot cooler and wetter than I've ever experienced.  The cool was better for running but the wet had some challenges.  Next year, add some ointments (vasoline or A&D)  into the first aid kit for chafing and even some larger plastic bags for keeping the rain off for when standing about.

One Captain and a strong Van Captain.  Last year I'd needed some guidance with pulling this all off. Coach Lesley was that guidance.  This year I was solo as many of her athletes and herself were in Chelan for the multisport weekend which is Chelanman.  This worked as I could take full control and responsibility.  Those athletes which work with her still contacted their coach, of course but I felt more connected to the team.  I'd also been able to arrange an easy get together with about half the team to go over some safety issues, how relays work and what to expect.  It was really nice to meet most of the team before we all climbed into vans together!

No Volunteers.  Ragnar requires local teams to provide three volunteers or pay a differential. This year, I paid to waive the volunteer requirement right before the deadline.  Next year this will just be a given and it's going to happen much earlier.  As much fun as it was to see our friends on course last year, it was just easier to fulfill this requirement with cash and it is one less thing I have to coordinate and stress about.

And we were ready. I'd held it all together really well and was amazed at how much less stressful it had been to pull it all together. And then it was Thursday afternoon and the butterflies came and punched me down.  I could not sleep as usual the night before the event.  I was ready to get on the road and just wanted to run!