Leg Reviews

It's been barely 24 hours since we ran across the finish line at the SoCal Ragnar, and I'm sitting here reminiscing about how awesome it was. This is one of my favorite Ragnars' because for one, it's California. But it is also a great course with great views. What's better than ocean views, running past strawberry fields, exchanges at famous piers and a finish line that's actually on the beach. This years race was a lot tougher than last year. It was a lot longer and some of the prettiest legs from Santa Barbara to Ventura were taken out. But I still had a blast. So here are my reviews of the legs that I ran.

Leg 1 - 7.9 Miles - Very Hard (Ventura)

This first leg of the race was not anything like the first leg of last years run. This leg was straight for most of the way and on a rural road connecting towns, but it was ok. I started out with the pack thinking I would stay with the leaders but a small group took off hauling butt, too fast for me. I did maintain a decent pace though despite a small headwind, and I felt pretty good. I had to run over several small sand banks that had blown into the road from the beach. But overall it was a decent leg. 7.9 Miles, 1 hour 3 min, 7.58 pace.

Leg 2 - 8 miles - Very Hard (LA (RESEDA)

This was my favorite leg to run. I started about 9:45 PM and I always love the night time runs. When Taylor hit the gate and I was off I took off with about 3 other runners. I think they were excited to be running and really hit the pavement smoking. I was just trying to keep pace, but when I looked at my Garmin we were going at a 5:30 pace, so I pulled back the reigns a litte bit. No way I'm going that fast for 8 miles. Needless to say I passed both of them later on in the leg. Most of this leg was on a running trail that ran along a light transit railway. It was another long straight road, but not as bad running at night. There were a few sketchy characters out, but it was a great trail to run on, pretty well lit and nice and cool out, great running weather. The only problem was that I had to stop at a least 8 red lights which was really frustrating. Ruins the flow. I kept passing people, but then had to stop where they would catch up, we would have a drink, share a few laughs, reminisce about the old days, then be on our way again. But I felt great and felt like I could keep up a good pace for the entire leg. 8 miles, 1 hour 1 min, 7:39 pace

Leg 3 - 2.6 miles - Easy (Wilmington)

I have to admit, it was nice having a short leg like this for my last leg. I was a little worried though before starting because on our way to the exchange we stopped at Jack in the Box and I ate a sourdough jack, which for some strange reason (maybe running 16 miles and not sleeping) did not agree with me. Come on Jack, I thought we were friends bro. I almost brought it back up 5 times when I was gearing up. Sorry for that freaking cool visual. But I figured I could just knock out a couple of miles and be done with it. But Van 2 shows up, Taylor comes in blazing and off I went. I ran through a little swampy area with water and ducks blocking the trail, then into the city, which some might venture to call " the ghetto." It was an interesting part of town. I had three homeless people cheering me on and even giving high fives, which was actually pretty awesome. Nice substitute for my wife that couldn't be there. My time on this leg though is an estimate because I paused my Garmin at a red light and forgot to turn it back on for about 3 tenths of a mile. But my stomach problem went away and I felt fine. Glad to be done. 2. 6 miles, 20 min, 7:41 pace.

Even though this race was long and tough I had an absolute blast and loved every minute of it. We had a great van 1 that really busted out some tough legs with style and tenacity and a freaking ragnasty team overall. I had a great time running with old friends and some new ones and as always some memories I'll never forget. I'm already looking forward to next years Ragnar SoCal. Warren