It is 2019 ... the year of epic relays!! I am so so sooooo excited to not only be part of Lady Storm Squad again as we raise funds for Hood to Coast, but I am also the captain of Glory Daze - the like totally raddest group of neon loving runners coming to Ragnar Northwest Passage!
For fun I thought we'd take a look at how this righteous team came to be.
Walt Disney is often quoted about how it was all started with a mouse. One could say this team was all started with a nose ring, (RIP 12/26/2018 - thanks to my CSF leak and multiple MRIs).
On my birthday in 2006 I ended up getting my nose pierced with essentially a complete stranger named Shawn during half time of an OSU football game. We became friends on social media later, and never saw each other again until 2017 when he asked if I wanted to fill in the final spot of a Ragnar team. So 11 years later we were teammates, which in the end led to new friendships. Sara was on that team, and last year she messaged me to see if I wanted to fill in the final spot of a Hood to Coast team. Had I not eavesdropped on tailgating conversations at Oregon State I wouldn't have ended up piercing my nose, and would have never been part of these two awesome relay teams!
Jump to 2018 and a very unsatisfactory Ragnar experience. It was a total shit show all around and my body just did not perform given the living and weather conditions. On the way home from that relay my husband and I decided .... we were going to form our own super team of the coolest, funnest, running type people we know!
Our team roster has shifted in so many ways that I had to delete a ton of writing right here. We'll just shorten it and meet the team, presented in order of how we will run in only a matter of days!
Meet Van 1
Runner 1: Ronda Rae You know her as the author of this blog! I'm the Captain of this team, creator of neon and sparkle race outfits, designer of team fanny packs, maker of desserts for each van. I was on a run when it hit me.... Those who can.. RUN. Those who can't... Captain! (I want to strongly put here that this absolutely does not apply to our Hood to Coast team. Sara is a ridiculously awesome Captain and runner!)
Runner 2: Dustin Last year's Lady Storm Squad had 2 spots to fill at the last minute. I filled one, Dustin filled the other! We've survived van life together before, we can totally do it again. She is also who I ran my last race of 2018 with while my brain was starting its leaking process. Her spirit and attitude seriously helped me out!
Runner 3: Michael Our young one. He gets the challenge of being runner 3 - which you may recall I whined about the first leg of it in 2017. Gorgeous, but damn. 8+ miles of one solid hill. He can handle it, no problem!
Runner 4: Shawn The other half of Tew Legit. The one that gives in when I say we should run in costumes. The one that drives a van of Lady Storm Squad members during the entire Hood to Coast course and never once complains. The one that puts up with me every single day.
Runner 5: Dan NOT a serial killer. Did I recruit him from Instagram? Yes. Have we ever met? No. But does it feel like he's a stranger? No. I can't even recall how many years we have followed and talked to each other on Instagram. He's a fan of Steve Prefontaine so I know he's good people!
Runner 6: Jenn Remember that time Runner 1 and Runner 4 got married in Vegas and this awesome chick danced down the isle and pulled money out of her bra? That's Jenn! And this is her first relay! YAY!!! We have done so many races together, but never actually together, so this is going to be a fun first!
Meet Van 2
Runner 7: Shawn Yeah, for a while we only had two guys on the team, both named Shawn. Seems simple to just have everyone with the same name, right?!? This Shawn is the one that I pierced my nose with and that invited me to that awesome 2017 team. He is a speedy runner. His van mates better hurry to the next exchange once he begins his first because he will be done in no time at all!
Runner 8: Heather While I was miserable in the back of a ridiculously small mini van last year I was back there with Heather! She's a Southern California girl now - but a former Oregon coast girl and a freaking awesome runner. She just floats like a bird! And talk about a team player. She helped finish a leg for one of our teammates last year with no complaints. We did back to back van runs, she got basically no sleep, and she still kicked ass. This is what makes an awesome teammate!!
Runner 9: Hope We have multiple Shawn's and we have 3 people with the same last name. Consistency! Hope is the sister in law of Runner 1 and Runner 4. She just finished touring the world for a year - no, seriously, not even joking at all - so living with strangers in a van is going to be a piece of cake for her!
Runner 10: Amber Dawn The 80s called and summon Amber Dawn and I to the New Kids on the Block concert last month. So clearly she is ready for this team! Plus she runs and runs and runs. This is her first Ragnar, but as a Hood to Coast veteran she has fun ideas and is ready!
Runner 11: Sara Can you even have a relay team without Sara?? This is our 3rd relay together -- 2017 Ragnar, 2018 Hood to Coast, this 2019 Ragnar ... and then next month Hood to Coast again. She is the one to help me fulfill my running bucket list. I will be forever grateful! Also, she's the Best. Captain. EVER. !!
Runner 12: Savannah She is actually in Argentina as I write this! She gets back to Oregon, and before she even goes home we are swooping her up and taking her toward Canada for this race! Savannah was also on that 2017 Ragnar team with Shawn, Sara and I. And, small world, she knew my uncle who was a teacher at her high school! I feel like I always meet people that knew Mr. Noel. (Mr Noel - that is really hard to type! Let's just say Uncle John!)
And there you have it! My future "roommates". Together we will run nearly 200 miles from Canada to Whidbey Island and we will have a blast doing it!
Runner 4: Shawn The other half of Tew Legit. The one that gives in when I say we should run in costumes. The one that drives a van of Lady Storm Squad members during the entire Hood to Coast course and never once complains. The one that puts up with me every single day.
Runner 5: Dan NOT a serial killer. Did I recruit him from Instagram? Yes. Have we ever met? No. But does it feel like he's a stranger? No. I can't even recall how many years we have followed and talked to each other on Instagram. He's a fan of Steve Prefontaine so I know he's good people!
Runner 6: Jenn Remember that time Runner 1 and Runner 4 got married in Vegas and this awesome chick danced down the isle and pulled money out of her bra? That's Jenn! And this is her first relay! YAY!!! We have done so many races together, but never actually together, so this is going to be a fun first!
Meet Van 2
Runner 7: Shawn Yeah, for a while we only had two guys on the team, both named Shawn. Seems simple to just have everyone with the same name, right?!? This Shawn is the one that I pierced my nose with and that invited me to that awesome 2017 team. He is a speedy runner. His van mates better hurry to the next exchange once he begins his first because he will be done in no time at all!
Runner 8: Heather While I was miserable in the back of a ridiculously small mini van last year I was back there with Heather! She's a Southern California girl now - but a former Oregon coast girl and a freaking awesome runner. She just floats like a bird! And talk about a team player. She helped finish a leg for one of our teammates last year with no complaints. We did back to back van runs, she got basically no sleep, and she still kicked ass. This is what makes an awesome teammate!!
Runner 9: Hope We have multiple Shawn's and we have 3 people with the same last name. Consistency! Hope is the sister in law of Runner 1 and Runner 4. She just finished touring the world for a year - no, seriously, not even joking at all - so living with strangers in a van is going to be a piece of cake for her!
Runner 10: Amber Dawn The 80s called and summon Amber Dawn and I to the New Kids on the Block concert last month. So clearly she is ready for this team! Plus she runs and runs and runs. This is her first Ragnar, but as a Hood to Coast veteran she has fun ideas and is ready!
Runner 11: Sara Can you even have a relay team without Sara?? This is our 3rd relay together -- 2017 Ragnar, 2018 Hood to Coast, this 2019 Ragnar ... and then next month Hood to Coast again. She is the one to help me fulfill my running bucket list. I will be forever grateful! Also, she's the Best. Captain. EVER. !!
Runner 12: Savannah She is actually in Argentina as I write this! She gets back to Oregon, and before she even goes home we are swooping her up and taking her toward Canada for this race! Savannah was also on that 2017 Ragnar team with Shawn, Sara and I. And, small world, she knew my uncle who was a teacher at her high school! I feel like I always meet people that knew Mr. Noel. (Mr Noel - that is really hard to type! Let's just say Uncle John!)
And there you have it! My future "roommates". Together we will run nearly 200 miles from Canada to Whidbey Island and we will have a blast doing it!
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