This is the aftermath and some final thoughts from Ragnar Relay in Richmond (April 29-30). In case you missed my actual race recaps, you can find leg 1 HERE, leg 2 HERE, and leg 3 HERE.

After we finished running and got our official team photo, there was a flurry of packing up. It was a fun weekend, but it had been a long event and we were all ready to wrap up our time there. Barry and my dad helped me take down my tent and get everything packed up. Luckily, Bill had gotten a ride over to our RV campsite with Debbie’s stuff, and he was able to come back and pick me up with all of my stuff. He gave Deb and me a ride back over to the campground side of the park while dad and Barry walked through the woods to meet us there.

We unloaded everything from Bill and Deb’s vehicle, and then chatted with them for a bit before saying goodbye. Barry and I would be staying another night in the state park, along with Dad and Robin (who had an adjacent campsite). I was looking forward to a nice hot shower, a good meal, and a good night’s rest.

Unfortunately, two out of three of those did not happen. The hot water was kind of hit or miss at the bathhouses in the park, and I had to endure an ice cold shower. It was really a testament to how much I wanted that shower, because I think standing in that water was harder than running Ragnar. 😉

We had a delicious meal (hamburgers, salad, and fries) and then I collapsed in bed around 8:30. I slept terribly, though, which I think was due to being over tired. I woke up a lot throughout the night and finally got up around 8 the next morning. We walked the dogs a lot on Sunday morning and I think that really helped my legs start to recover from Ragnar. On the sleep front, it took me nearly a week to recover. That’s one of the main reasons I think this was my last Ragnar.

One thing is for sure, we really lucked out weather-wise during Ragnar. It rained on and off throughout the week leading up to the event, and there was a big thunderstorm on Thursday night at the park. It also rained really hard again Saturday night and again on Sunday morning. But from Friday afternoon through Saturday afternoon we had good weather, apart from some really light rain early Saturday morning (like 1 AM early). It doesn’t get much better than that.

So Ragnar number 3 is in the books. I’ve now run a Ragnar road relay, a Ragnar trail relay on a non-ultra team, and a Ragnar trail relay on an ultra team. All three were great experiences. They were tough, I had to face down some fears, and I accomplished a feat that at times did not seem possible. In the end, it’s a great bonding experience. You’ll walk away with new friends, fun stories, and incredible memories.

Have you ever run a relay event? If not, is it something you are interested in?