Utah part 2...Wasatch Back

This is one of  my favorite races ever. I can't really explain why. To most people the thought of sitting in a van full of sweaty, stinky people for more than 24 hours, running all through the night, and getting no sleep doesn't sound like much fun. But to those who do it, for some reason it just is! 




For this race you run from Logan Utah to Park City in a team of 12. Six runners in van 1 and six in van 2. 



This year we were on team "Wolfpack". Our good friend Phil had asked if Jared and I wanted to run on his family team several months ago. I of coarse said for sure! And talked Jared into it. Then we moved to Texas and plans changed. So I talked my cute little sister Wendy into filling in for Jared. Let me just say this...those Wolfgramms are extremely entertaining!!! We had a blast getting to know their family and sitting in a sweaty, stinky truck with them (except for when it was our turn to sit in the back of the truck to air off :))


I'm really, really, missing Utah's breathtaking mountains in Texas. So I may have gone a little overboard on my scenic pics. But I just couldn't stop staring at them! They are so beautiful. And we ran past some gorgeous scenery. I get chills just thinking about it.




Since we were in van 2, that put us running in the middle of the night. I think we started our second legs around midnight or so. Here's what our van was looking like at this point, me trying to get some shut eye before my 9.6 miles at 2 a.m.



And psycho here who is used to no sleep wide awake and wired! It reminded me of all those Christmas mornings where we had to tell Wendy to go back to bed.



 I think this is Jordanelle reservoir



Ugh, this hill almost killed me! Have I mentioned how FLATTexas is? The hills I trained on in Texas were nothing compared to this monster. I was runner 9 so I ran the first 3 miles or so up the "Ragnar" hill. At first I thought, "3 miles? I can do anything for 3 miles". Boy was I WRONG!About half way up I told my sister to break my legs for me so I could quit. Just kidding. But for real. I'd rather run a marathon any day than this. (part of me secretly wants to go back and conquer that hill though. Now that I know what I'm getting myself into. What's wrong with me?)

This is me FINALLY passing the bracelet to Phil who had to run the rest of the way up the Ragnar. I looked/felt like death and he was all chipper and fired up. Good ridden Phil!




Wendy running among the beautiful trees. There was still snow up there!




Wendy's final run and water break. This is where I broke the news to her that they had changed her leg last minute. Due to coarse obstruction, they added another mile or 2 (I can't remember) to her leg. Ha ha! Poor thing.


Since they let WAY too many people run this dang race, we didn't even make it to the finish line to cross with our team or to see poor Geoff finish. So this was the only after pic we got. We were tired, hungry, and stinky. But it sure was fun! Ha ha! Anyone up for trying this out next year?