Honey, Do You Want To Go To Key West?

I said yes before I realized what I had said yes to...

What do you call 12 runners, two vans and 198.5 miles?

Welcome to the inaugural race of the 2012 RAGNAR series. This Miami to Key West relay race consisted of 15 overnight running relay races that test runners’ limits. Over two days and one night, RAGNAR relay teams compete by running across almost 200 miles of the country’s most scenic terrain.

In January a RAGNAR team, which included Stamford neighbors Brian and Nathalie Kobel and Kirk Sexton, participated and finished impressively.

While my husband Brian and Kirk laced up their running shoes, RAGNAR participation for me meant driving Van 1 of Team 2 for our relay team, Ballistic Buttercups Too. Our team consisted of two vans of six runners each and two designated drivers. To start, our van covered exchanges one through six, which was a total of 30.9 miles. We began at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 6, and ended at the Miami Zoo around 2:30 p.m., when we handed off the wrist band to the first runner of Van 2. Then it was our team’s time for rest. We headed off to Applebee’s for dinner and four hours of rest. Afterwards, we hit the road again, heading off to the next major exchange to meet the last runner of Van 2.

We met Van 2 at Exchange 12, the Homestead Speedway. Our van’s second leg of the relay covered 48.3 miles. Our first runner was back on the road at about 6:45 p.m. for her second of three runs. Hitting the road, we ran and drove through Homestead, Florida City, The Southern Glades Canal and Key Largo. We ended our second leg at the Tavernier High School about 1:45 a.m., when we again handed off the running to Van 2.

My big decision then was whether to sleep there at the high school or drive to the next Major Exchange at Marathon City Hall. I decided to drive the 38 miles to ensure that our team got some sleep. Once at city hall, I turned off the rented Dodge Caravan at 3 a.m. and crashed in the driver’s seat. Who knew you could get so cozy with a steering wheel? After three hours of sound sleep, we were up and ready to run our last leg of the relay race.

Our third and final leg of the relay covered 32.6 miles from Marathon to Summerland Key. Jen, our van’s first runner, was off by 6:45 a.m. She completed a three-mile run before she handed the wrist band to teammates Rachel, who covered 9.1 miles, including the Seven Mile Bridge; Brian (9.3 miles); and Jason, (4.1 miles). Kirk (3 miles) finished before Sam completed a 25-minute 4.1 mile run to hand off the wrist band to Van 2 at our last major exchange, Sugarloaf Elementary School, at 11:35 a.m.

Then all I had to do was drive the team 20.1 miles from Summerland Key to Key West. There we stood as a team, waiting for our last runner to arrive at the Southernmost Hotel.

As a team, we crossed the finish line together.

There were 516 teams registered for RAGNAR Key West this year and Ballistic Buttercups Too finished eleventh among mixed open teams with a time of 27:46:24.