THE RAGNAR WASATCH BACK - 181 MILES

Incredible Holts Rock The Wasatch Back!!

(You'll want to read this to the end. It's an adventure!)

We started with a family pasta feed at Bry's parents' home on Thursday night 6/19. We loaded up two rented suburbans with 12 runners, food, sleeping and running gear and headed to Logan. Dave & Misty Smith let us stay in their gianormous house - more than 11 bedrooms & 7 baths!! Here is a as brief a synopsis as possible of the run....

* Up 6:00 am Friday - Check in & Race Begins with our first runner at 7:40 AM.

* Van 1 (Runners #1-6) run until just before noon on Friday. Devin, Amy, Scott, Becky, Cody & Steph. Driver - Nan. Logan - Nibley - Hyrum and Avon Pass. Devin getting puffy face with hives from the pollen. Becky runs a 7.4 uphill in the heat.

* Van 2 - Picks up just outside of Huntsville & finishes at Snow Basin Ski Resort. Meriel, Jeanne, Melissa, Bryan, Virginia & me. Driver - Mat. My leg was the last of this van and took me up Trapper's Loop (or a road close to it) 3.1 miles in hot hot weather. This picture shows Bry watering me on the hill. I love my new running skirts!!

*Van 1 - Takes over and runs Mountain Green and through the Morgan Valley. Beautiful run and into the night.

*Van 2 - Takes over and runs through the night. Henefer, along Echo Reservoir, through Coleville & along Rockport. This leg added a lot of difficulty due to weather extremes. We ran on Friday in 93 degree weather. My run at 4:30 AM along Rockport Reservoir was at 40 degrees. Beautiful. The sky was just getting light but the sun hadn't risen yet. Ducks taking off of a clear glass lake. Absolutely amazing. Just under 6 miles. I discovered I like running while chewing gum. It keeps my mouth moist and the dry air no longer burned my throat. My only battle was getting enough oxygen - finding energy to keep expanding my chest and fill my lungs with air at the high elevations.

*Van 1 - Takes over at Rockport and runs Oakley to Kamas and along Jordanelle Reservoir. I think some of them managed a little sleep. All did a great job as they ran their last legs into Heber City. I cried as they came in - I was so proud of their accomplishment!

*Van 2 - After getting approx. 1/2 hour of sleep, our van began running from Heber City through Midway and up over a mountain on a dirt road that came down steeply into Deer Valley and ended the race in Park City. The weather was also around 95 degrees and the elevation on this last mountain was the highest of the entire race. It was also an 8 percent grade. An elevation gain of 3160 ft in 7 miles. A dirt road. Crazy. You almost can't imagine it until you drive/run it. The mountain is also know as "Are You Kidding Me?"

Hell broke loose on this run. Every runner's stomach gets a little upset. You just hope that you have plenty of time and Honey Bucket (outhouse) visits prior to running. Bryan didn't get that chance.

*Melissa ran the first 3.6 miles of the Ragnar. She kept thinking - "I hate this. I would rather be having a baby or ...." but, she still ran it. Bry hit the Honey Bucket prior to taking over from Melissa. He didn't feel well at that point and made himself throw-up to try to fix his stomach issues. As we left him to begin his run, I felt sick inside about his condition. We prayed as a team that he could make it to the 1/2 mile mark for water. At 1/2 mile, Bry stumbled around the corner, pale and in pain. Each runner's leg has to be finished, if not by the assigned runner, than by a teammate regardless of that teammate's other legs. I knew it was what I had to do. I couldn't imagine letting my team get disqualified after all they had accomplished. I can't express the emotion of seeing your spouse dehydrated, heat exhausted and suffering from elevation sickness and running with these thoughts in my mind. I am grateful to say that my Heavenly Father watched over us all. My feet, which had been a problem prior to the race, didn't hurt once. I was able to take on a mountain that I never thought I could, the Ragnar - 4 miles uphill - 1700 ft. I couldn't run it all, but I tried. It was incredibly hot and amazingly enough I passed people on the hill. Most runners were walking.

* At the top of the Ragnar, Bry jumped out of the van and began throwing up again. Not purposely this time.

*Our next runner headed down the hill on her leg which was a severe 7 mile downhill.

*I called in our 2nd Van and through broken cell phone conversations asked that they come and get Bry. They were amazing and came right away. At that point, my legs were exhausted. There were no emergency services at the top of the most difficult mountain of the race - an error that caused many problems for the race directors that day.

Anyway, the next 30 minutes were all about trying to get Bryan to some ER guys down the hill, keeping Virginia watered so that she didn't get heat exhaustion as she ran and switching runners around to accomodate the changes.

*I'm grateful for our most recently adopted Holts - Melissa & Cody. Melissa stayed at the top of the mountain with Bry while I went to get help. Cody - he had some shorter distance legs but is a crazy amazing runner. He willingly took my last leg and ran it so that I could stay with Bryan.

*Once we got Bry to the end of the race he again began throwing up and passed out, hitting his head on the rocks on the side of the road. Soon, we got him to rest in the shade and I sent the rest of the team to meet Cody and cross the finish line. Bryan has slowly recovered and is doing better now. I'm grateful for Bry's willingness to let the race go when his body would no longer let him run. It's a difficult moment in a runner's race to have to say - "I can't go any farther." I love him and admire him. He trained very hard for this race, the Ragnar Mtn and the elevation. No one was more prepared. I'm grateful he is okay.

To Scott, Meriel, Virginia & Steph - I'm amazed at the way you pushed through your first relay. Through the physical pain, mental exhaustion and proved to yourself how amazing you are. We already knew it and hope you know it too!! Love you.

I really felt touched by the way this family pulled together, shifted around, acted fast and finished a grueling race. Watching Jeanne and Virginia, Mom and Daughter, supporting each other every step of the way brought a special touch to our run. I watched Amy just stomp out this run as if it was cake!! She is an inspiration. Becky's & Dev's positive attitude at every exchange brought energy to my legs. Melissa's slap happy giggles through the night kept me awake, laughing and loving the experience. Her amazing ability to take on the most difficult events & conquer and use those accomplishments to reach new heights gave me a new positive outlook on the sport of running. I loved it. Cody.........who else tries to run his 3 miles in under twenty minutes wearing Hulk Hands at the end?? He is a cheetah and I'm glad he's my friend.

Four of our runners suffered from heat exhaustion that night. I spoke with the Ragnar Director today, many teams didn't finish and many people had injuries and suffered elevation sickness, heat exhaustion and dehydration. The thing that is different about our team is that this whole thing was handled with love and compassion. Every runner sacrificed something! I watched Bry's family step up to meet personal challenges as well as family challenges. It brought us closer together and I deeply love and admire each runner. Friendships became stronger. Family bonds tighter.

I hope we keep running. I love Virginia's words. They will ring in my mind for a long time to come....

WE CAN DO HARD THINGS.

Thank you to Bryan for his support all along the way as I team captained this WB. His listening ear, shoulder to cry on and advice when I was stressed beyond capacity meant everything to me. Thank you for giving me water while I was running in the heat and cuddling me in a blanket as I shivered in the cold. Thank you to my team for never breaking, never giving up and staying positive and cheering each other on through 181 miles of cold/heat and mountains. Thank you to our extended family support - my Mom for watching my boys, B Neff for driving along and supporting his fam. Bri, Rame & Rach for volunteering. J & J Holt for letting us hang out their home. D & K Holt for housing the entire team for dinner and more. Nan & Mat - two amazing drivers -sooo responsible and on top of the map reading and safe transportation of team as well as their enthusiam! Marie & Jordan for the support and willingness to help out even with their baby born 2 days before the race. Thanks to our adopted family members for joining us too.

It was a spiritual growing experience for me. In a way, I'm sad it's over. It was an irreplacable experience.

An Incredible Experience. Go Incredible Holts.