Saturday, July 20, 2019

Ragnar NW Passage: Leg 1 - Hello, Canada!

As captain, and having this being my third year in a row running the Ragnar Northwest Passage, I decided I could have first dibs on which runner I was. I didn't really even look at the legs before choosing. I remembered in 2017 that the first runner got to start pretty much at the US/Canada border, and I LOVE Canada, and there were views of water - so I just decided I'd be runner 1! It wasn't until probably 11pm the night before the race started that I even found out that I was going to be running 6.4 miles. Yeah - I hadn't run that long since maybe November when I was training for the half marathon before my brain started leaking! But 6.4 lovely miles it would be!


We got to Blaine with plenty of time to get our slap bracelet and take oodles of photos. The start line, race attire, the US/Canada border. You name it, we had photos of it. It was actually a great way to help me calm my notorious pre-race nerves! Soon enough it was time to actually head to the start line for the 7:15am wave of runners. The announcer got the crowd and runners hyped, saying off the name of each team that was lined up. Pretty cool to hear Glory Daze said over the loud speaker! And after a countdown we were all off and running!

I started out mildly hard for that initial burst out of the park, but knew there was no point in killing myself. I had a long run ahead of me and two more runs to go later in the relay. I managed to pass a couple people in the first half mile and then enjoyed pretty much being alone. I couldn't stop staring at Canada. So close to Tim Horton's and getting some Tim Bits. So close...


Blaine was really cute. It was like running through a scene in Murder, She Wrote. I made sure to enjoy myself and take it all in. This could be the only time I was running in this area and I didn't want to miss it. I was running pretty strong, too, which felt like a great way to kick off our relay.

At one point I rounded a corner and looked over to see Vancouver, British Columbia looking back at me. That was enough distraction to get me to start walking a bit. From there it became a mental battle. I was at the point where I was running longer than any of my training runs, so my body was re-experiencing those long run feelings. Another woman passed me and told me that I was doing awesome and had been pacing her and to keep it up. Well that was darn flattering!

Hello, Vancouver!

For the rest of my run I paced off of her and never let her get too far ahead of me. It was nice having her as a steady sight since it was at 3.7 miles when the first runner (a woman!!) of the 7:30am wave came flying by. She was so far ahead of the next runner - which was also a woman. Those speedy ones are so impressive! Some of those fast runners even took the time to compliment me on my outfit as they passed by. It might seem silly, but it is nice to even be acknowledged as a person out there versus a non-existent slow runner.

Around mile 4 it stopped being a physical battle and instead a mental fight - Me versus Meniere's Disease. I could feel the vertigo starting to come and I fought so hard to just not let it win. I had a couple shaky moments, but as I got down to another spot right along the water I could tell I was near the end. Suddenly I saw a man in green bouncing around and realized it was Shawn being silly and letting me know I was almost done. I needed that! I zeroed in on him and ran a strong finish to Dustin and the exchange. Shawn did have to hold me up because once I stopped running the vertigo did kick in, but I still consider this one a victory!

It was a really enjoyable run and I'm so glad I chose it! The insane humidity that I had to deal with, on the other hand? Yeah, that I could have lived without!


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