LAS VEGAS RAGNAR 2011

Well Daniel finally did it...he got his Saint & Sinner Medal for running Wasatch Back and Las Vegas RAGNAR in the same year!

For this race the team was #340: Scrambled Legs & Aichin.
Van 1: Stacey (Dan's cousin-in-law)
Dan
Alex (Dan's Cousin)
Matt (Dan's Best Friend from H.S.)
Kari (Dan's Mom)
Michael (Dan's Cousin)
Van 2: Mitch (Dan's Bro-in Law)
Sarah (Dan's Sister)
And the other 4 were relatives of Dan's Aunt Myndee

We started out journey at 12:30 pm on Thursday Oct 20th. I had the car all packed and I picked up Dan from the University. We drove down to Kaysville and picked up Matt on our way to Kaysville. In Kaysville we got in Dan's parents van and Todd drove us to Henderson, Nevada. The trip down was pretty fun talking with Dan and Matt. On the down side, we were stuck in Nephi for about an hour and a half due to traffic. Dan and Matt are now convinced that Nephi goes from Provo until St. George :)

In Henderson we stayed in a Marriott Courtyard because Myndee has a niece who works for that company and could get discounts on the room. Dan & I shared a room with Sarah and Mitch who didn't show up in Las Vegas until 5am. Luckily for them they were in Van 2 and Van 2 didn't have to leave Henderson until 10:30 am. Van 1 left Henderson at 6:30am.

The starting line was by the shore of Lake Mead. Our team started at 8:00 am. We had two vans with us, the RAGNAR van and Todd & Kari's van so Todd drove the RAGNAR van for the first 2 sets of legs and I drove the other van. After Dan ran his first leg I went and chilled with Van 2 at the exchange where the vans switch.

I should add that Dan has been recovering from a leg injury and even though he was injured he still ran all his legs and even had some kills (passed people during the race) !

After talking with Van 2 for a while I went to what I thought was the next Van exchange...it wasn't but I had a nice hour long nap in the van in a shaded casino garage terrace. I then drove around and found the exchange. This exchange was at a really nice casino/resort. Once Van 1 showed up we ate and sat around playing Uno and Phase 10.

Sarah was the last runner for Van 2 and we got to watch her run in. After Stacey took off running I drove to the next van exchange. I called my brother while I was on I-15 because it was so late and dark and there was nothing to look at...I was worried I would fall asleep. I ended up misreading the directions and getting lost in the desert. Luckily I found my way to the exchange. After Van 1 showed up we all went to sleep. Everyone but Dan and me slept on a tarp on the gravel, Dan and I slept in the back of the van.

For our last set of legs Todd and I switched vans so I drove the RAGNAR van. It was so fun!!! The best part is pulling over to support the runner by giving them water or just cheering for them. The bad part was that we were out in the middle of the desert with NO SHADE at all and the runners were running on a dirt/gravel road. I am now a firm believer that people can die in the desert.

After Van 1 finished their runs we went to the finish line in Las Vegas. It was at a really nice park. We waited there for 7 hours!!! It wouldn't have been so bad if there had been more shade around. Once the sun went down though it felt really good. Sarah lead the team into the finish line and everyone got their medals. Somehow Dan & Matt ended up with Florida Keys RAGNAR medals, so I had to go switch those out. Dan also earned the Saints & Sinners medal that has a bottle opener for Rootbeer and Real Beer.

On the drive home Todd drove to St. George and then I drove from St. George to Kaysville. We pulled into Kaysville at 5am.

It was a long drive down and back, but it was totally worth it!

Highlights of the trip:

* The Lord of the Rings Van with the following quotes written on it: Not the Beard! You need people of intelligence on this journey, quest, thing. We dwarfs are natural sprinters. We may have made a mistake leaving the shire. The team's name was: One does not simply walk into RAGNAR.

*The Area 51 Van claiming that all their kills would be probed.

*The disco man runner who ran the first leg in bell bottoms, a leopard print shirt, and a giant wig. The next time I saw him he was dancing disco on top of his van.

*Team 420 having a Bob Marley Theme...think about it...

*Matt, Alex, Dan, and Michael following each other doing a spin off of inception theme music "Tch ch ch ch ch Tch ch ch ch ch ch ch"

*Fast runner chick spanking a walking "Bumblebee" (a man in a black and yellow tutu) and then him trying to catch her for revenge...he never did.

*Mega phone van telling Matt that his flag waiving skills had earned him a "10.0, 9.7, 10.0"

*Dan and me only being able to find a oldies station in the middle of Utah and dancing to Disco music at 3am.

*Dan, Matt, and me making up an epic movie that includes Robert Downing Jr, Hugh Jackman, Samuel L. Jackson, and Morgan Freeman.

*Me not understanding that some of the vans names were inappropriate

*John came into our room in Kaysville and said "It's 12:30 and church starts at 1" Me being asleep yelled "Then we're not going!" I then politely said, "Thank You." Ya i apologized after I was fully awake.