Captain's log 30 March 2016 - Ragnar SoCal 2016

Wow, where has the time gone. Oh yeah, big project at my #accounting job, #injury, and life with #kids. But now is the time to start focusing on #Ragnar!!!! I am getting pretty excited, if not a little nervous. Ragnar is just around the corner. Literally 2 days away! This will be my 3rd year and the 3rd team I have captained. Every year is a new challenge and every year is more fun!

Ok, for anyone who has not heard of Ragnar Relay let me explain, briefly, what that is. It is a Relay race with 12 people, 2 vans, and roughly 36 hours. You all run 3 different times of varying distances starting at one location and ending at another. For me that relay is the SoCal relay, starts in Huntington Beach and ends in Coronado this year (although it has been a different finish line every year so far). The short version goes like this Runners 1-6 are in Van 1 and they start, early, Friday morning. Runner 1 starts and then hands off the baton, or in this case the slap bracelet, to runner 2 and so on. Runners 7-12 are in Van 2 and meet up with Van 1 at exchange 6 where runner 6 passes off the slap bracelet to runner 7. At this point Van 2 is "on the road" and Van 1 can go "sleep and eat" before they run again after runner 12. It is crazy, exhausting, and fun. Find out more at http://www.runragnar.com.

Van mate/Team mate during the "night" hours 

So, on to this year. I have again set up an amazing team of women, some I know really well and some I have never meet personally but have been told they are amazing. After captaining 2 teams I am getting a little more selective on who is on my team. I have learned that getting 12 people to run is not as hard as it may sound, and a team fills up pretty quickly. Every year the team dynamics are different and every year brings on a lot of new and fun memories. But here are a few tips for any new captains or anyone thinking of creating a team:

Tip 1: Make sure everyone understands the importance of working together and going with the flow. Teams are set up usually at least a few months in advance, if not longer, things happen things change, go with it. If you get to worked up over something it ruins the fun and experience.

Team Run Runners of Ragnar 2014

Team Fox in Socks 2015

Tip 2: Logistics, logistics, logistics! When you set up your team remember think about where they are coming from and if you are able to get them to and from the pickup location. When running SoCal you start in Huntington Beach and end in San Diego (somewhere - it changes yearly). If you have some runners from LA area and some from San Diego you have to think about how to get everyone back to where they need to be. It isn't complicated, but needs to be considered. Also, think about start times, do you need to rent a hotel room for the night before or after the relay?

Tip 3: VANS - get them reserved early and be prepared for something to happen to that reservation. Last year I had 2 12-passenger vans rented and the reservation got lost. I stressed, cried, screamed and in the end we used Expeditions owned by my teammates and it was a bonding and close experience ;-). But because my team was able to "go with the flow" we made it work and had a blast. This year I have found out, again, the 12 passenger vans are not available because of a recall from Ford. So, we will do this in Mini vans with stow and go seats for extra storage (or space to lay down when we are trying to "sleep"). Either way, I am not crying this time. Frustrated yes, apparently the van gods have something against me, lol. BUT the main lesson, GO WITH THE FLOW.

Type of van I wanted - Glad Donate Lifers got on though!

Van decorations are the key!

2015 Home on the road, so much fun making it work!

Tip 4: Pack light and only the necessities! Whatever you think you will need, reduce it by 1/2. The stack of 20 magazines you think you will read, bring maybe 2. You will be way busier cheering, navigating, and running to really do anything else. Pack 1 warm outfit and your running gear, really you need nothing else!

Tip 5: Be prepared for injuries! You set up the team in January and a lot can happen before April. When a runner is injured don't freak out. You can handle it one of 3 ways, replace them (for serious injuries), move runners around so they have less miles (for minor setbacks), or other runners pick up there runs. If the team has only 11 runners then some of you can pick up those other 3 legs and you will be fine.

Tip 6: As captain taking your teammates opinions into consideration and then just make the final decision. There is a lot to get, magnets for tagging, team name, team shirts and costumes (if you do costumes), etc. Not everyone may LOVE the idea but I go by the majority rules type mentality. This is where the whole making sure the teammates you picked can go with the flow and be flexible. This year were are "Mermaids out of Water." I know a few people on the team or not Disney fans and would rather be a "Running from Zombies" type team. But because they are easy going and flexible the have loaded their iPod's with Metallica music and will tolerate the "Under the Sea" and other Mermaid themed songs that are thrown at them, as well as wear the mermaid skirt and pretend like they love it.

Tip 7: Let it Go and have fun! You are a captain but this is a relay of 12 people. It won't always go as planned so let it go when it isn't important and have fun!!!

Above everything, BE FLEXIBLE, and GO WITH THE FLOW. If you can't handle change on the fly and yet staying organized then you may be better suited to just being a teammate and not the captain. But if you really want to run Ragnar and can handle a little responsibility then go for it. Start the team, you have at least 1 running friend and they have a friend and it goes from there.

Those are my tips from my experience. Hope it helps anyone thinking about creating a team! No matter what Ragnar you are doing and if you are a captain or a team member Ragnar is an experience you will never forget! I would recommend it to any adventurous runner out there!