2013 Ragnar Northwest Passage – Part 3

I had just handed the baton off to Tasha in van #2.  It was now somewhere in the middle of the night so we needed to try and get some sleep.  The only question was if we stayed and slept at the exchange in La Conner or went to our next exchange in Oak Harbour.  Casey said he felt good enough to drive so while the rest of us snoozed in the van we set off for Oak Harbour.  Unfortunately I missed the drive over beautiful Deception Pass in the night.

Our next major exchange in Oak Harbour was at a school.  We could sleep in our van, or you could sleep in the gym.  Some people were sleeping outdoors, in sleeping bags, on grassy areas in the parking lot.  I opted for the van.  Luckily I had a whole bench to myself and in sweats, with a fleece blanket and a teeny tiny camping pillow it was ok.  It was a fairly fitful sleep though as at one point the van next to us decided to have a party outside the van and we were parked right by where the runners were going right past.

Eventually the phone rang and we were getting word that van #2’s final runner was coming into the exchange.  Time for Nicole to kick off her final leg!

It was a pretty overcast morning so night hours were extended an extra hour, so we had to keep wearing our reflective vests a little bit longer.

(the above photo from my van-mate Sarah’s Facebook page)

As we followed our runners on their legs we were rewarded with some of the prettiest scenery.

But probably some of the hardest legs for some of them.

I did my best to cheer everyone on.

The morning was going by so quickly and pretty soon it was almost my turn to run my final leg.

Thrilled to get that slap bracelet!

My final leg was only 2.4 miles long so I had hoped to run it quickly, however my legs reminded me that I had already run almost a half a marathon by this point in time. Keep going legs, you don’t have to run for very long!!

I turned up the music and just tried to focus on keeping my legs moving.  I was grateful for the overcast morning as it had kept it a little cooler.  Finally I was coming into my final exchange.

(photo grabbed from Danielle’s instagram)

As van #2 took off it was time for us to grab some food!  We went to Coupeville Coffee & Bistro where they had a special breakfast menu for all of the Ragnar runners.

My breakfast burrito and coffee tasted so delicious!

Caffeinated and with full bellies we made our way to the finish line to wait for van #2 to come in.  We had plenty of time though so I managed to grab a nap and spend some time in the beer garden.

Georgetown Beer was there pouring some delicious brews.

Van #2 showed up as Sarah, our final runner was on her way.  Tasha and I had matching Ragnar socks from ProCompression!

Sarah rounded the corner and we joined in to all cross the finish line together.

Our medals/bottle openers.

We got our pizzas for our two vans and then it was time to hit the road!

We were concerned the wait for the ferries from Langley would be too long so we took the long way around and drove back over Deception Pass.  The best part about it was that we were able to take a detour to Snow Goose Market, the site of one of last night’s exchanges, for some amazing ice cream.

After we got back to Seattle we spent some time scrubbing the windows on our vans and saying goodbye to everyone.  196 miles had gone by in a flash.

Many thanks to Nuun for inviting me to be on a team with them to run Ragnar Northwest Passage.  It was a once in a lifetime experience!  I have loved Nuun for a long time and it was such a pleasure to meet the fun and amazing people behind the product.  Our van was amazing.  We set out to have as much fun as possible and everyone was so supportive of each other on their legs.  I feel like I made some great friends on this relay and I hope I get a chance to run with them sometime again!  This definitely goes down as one of my best experiences in 2013.

Thank you Nuun!!!!