Trailer for 2008 Wasatch Back from Ragnar

The 2008 Crew

WB 2008 - Can I get a Hell Yeah!

Well, another year behind us and another 2 days of blurred fun and chaos with 6 close friends in a smelly van. I wouldn't have wanted to spend my weekend any other way, it was FANTASTIC!

A big THANK YOU to Brenna, our captain (and driver) for keeping us on course both figuratively and literally. Van #1 - you guys rocked and kept the pace going strong, even with a late start. I hope you guys had a good time. Donny - I think the bond you have with Avon pass will never fade, even if you do part ways with it. Leenz - it's not entirely unheard of to run this thing with a 6 month old baby (right, Emily? :P ).

To my van #2 homies - Jaren, keep reelin' in those people in front of you to stay on pace. You're quite the fisherman. Chan, we would NEVER leave you out there on your own, just merely drive a 1/2 mile ahead to watch you from afar to kick some trash and get a ROAD KILL!!! Greg, great job man, you did an awesome job getting your payback on that 14 year old girl. Who says age matters? Jenny, good running, good to meet you, and are you sure you never want to do this again? Eric/Elvis - thanks for jumping in last minute and running this thing like a madman, you'd be scaring with actual training.

As a celebration of our feats, we'd (Michelle and I) love to have you all over at our house for a BBQ on the 5th of July, a Saturday. Please leave a comment if you can make it or not. And, if you read this but know that others who did run don't read this, please communicate that to them.

Thanks again for a great race - go Ruckus!

And then there were 3

I have gotten my friend Rian to be our third volunteer. He's signing up today for his exchange.

Our Team Name is Cool, but...

I think that whoever "Ed Casmer" is, he's got some loving friends. Check out my nomination for the best team name for WB2008 and for it's lasting, humiliating effect on ol' Eddy. Frickin' sweet.

In Memory of Our Friend Ed Casmer, Who Couldn't Give Up Ding Dongs, And Was Too Lazy To Run This Year

Where you at, yo?

Hey Ragnar buddies, what's up? How's everyone doing? How's trainings going? How's we syncing up on everything?

Anywhos - I for one am still pumped up for this shizzle to go down. Did we decide on attire? Are we going 80's? Who's our third volunteer, are they still needed? Who's going to need to shower after their midnight run this time (Eric is - sorry about the funk last time Jaren).

Well, I suppose I could pick up this nifty gadget they call a "cell phone" and try calling some peepz to get the down low.

TTYL

P.S. - this dude is actually the Vikings NFL mascot, yes, he is Ragnar. Saaa-weet.

I propose...

An 80's workout theme! Leg warmers, leotards, headbands, let's bring it all back. The good news is that it's workout clothes, so we'll still be pretty comfortable. The bad news...is there any? Come on boys, I know that you've got it in you. Cut off shirts, spandex shorts...I can see it now!

Decorations for The Ruckus

Many an idea was tossed around last night in preparation for our return to Wasatch Back. We had mullets - becuase they are business in the front, and a party in the back.
Guitar Hero - because that is quite the ruckus...
And we had polygamists - well because they seem to be on the run lately...

Let me know what you think. Post your ideas! Please think of ways that we could decorate our vans (and runners) to make this fun!

Team Meeting

Our 1st team meeting will be held Tuesday, April 15th at my house (for the address check your email!). We will be meeting at 7:30 pm.
We will be going over all of the race details, as well as getting ourselves psyched for the event.
Please bring yourselves, and any drivers/ volunteers you have in mind.

See you there!

GAME ON!!!

Jaren is going to be getting lasic surgery - so we are going to be in Utah while he heals. That means - we are here for the WB baby!

Woohoo!!!!!!!!!!

Be prepared - because this means that we are going to be having a team meeting (and soon!)

Here are some dates for you to choose from:
Thursday April 10th
Friday April 11th
Tuesday April 15th
(please leave a comment with your preference)

I want to get everyone there! If you have people that want to volunteer or drive - we want to have them come as well.
Be thinking about vehicles. The bigger we can find - the better!

I'm psyched, are you?

Spudman Tri

My sister and her husband signed up for the Spudman Tri, but are having a hard time finding someone to watch their kids during the event. If there is a guy and girl interested in taking their spot let me know. Em

Running Legs

I thought I would just list all of the legs, so people could start thinking about what they want. I'll let you take it from here Brenna with everything else. Like who is doing the Ragnar and who is running what. I guess once you know your situation with Jaren in a few weeks all the kinks will be worked out.

Here are the legs:

Van 1

1 (5.1-Easy)
13 (7.8-V.Hard)
25 (5.6-Hard)

2 (6.7-Hard)
14 (3.0-Easy)
26 (5.3-Hard)

3 (5.6-Moderate)
15 (4.9-Moderate)
27 (5.1-Moderate)

4 (5.1-Moderate)
16 (3.1-Easy)
28 (5.0-Hard)

5 (7.4-V. Hard)
17 (5.4-Moderate)
29 (4.1-Moderate)

6 (6.9-V. Hard)
18 (5.7-Hard)
30 (3.6-Easy)

Van 2

7 (4.2-Easy)
19 (3.9-Moderate)
31 (4.1-Easy)

8 (3.2-Easy)
20 (7.0-Moderate)
32 (6.1-Moderate)

9 (3.3-Easy)
21 (6.2-Moderate)
33 (3.6-V. Hard)

10 (3.6-Easy)
22 (6.4-Moderate “Mini Ragnar”)
34 (4.0-V. Hard “Ragnar”)

11 (3.8-V. Hard)
23 (4.6-Moderate)
35 (3.7-Hard)

12 (3.9-V. Hard)
24 (5.2-Moderate)
36 (4.4-Easy)

Thoughts

I would be interested in choosing legs here soon for training purposes. Depending on what we are running influences our training obviously. Have we sorted out who is driving in what car? Tell me what you all think.

Warning...Warning...System Overload

Ragnar has removed the 500 team cap!!! It's now open to all who will register!! Due to the overwhelming participant response, they've contacted the Utah Sports Commission and the Governor's Office of Economic Development for permits for traffic control measures. What does this mean for us? There will be so many people, we might have to run with bats or machetes to help with crowd control! Don't feel like clobbering people while running? Feel like an axe or mace will add unecessary weight? Maybe we should consider instituting a new program: "run with an ork". Not only are they fast, but they will eliminate anyone in their way. Plus we could scream and point, "Look, that's a hobbit!"

Look at this GEM

Found this pick of our team last year with the colors running high... good times, good times.


Em - I like the idea of a few runs for the team in quaint neighborhoods. One of my favorite runs is the Bonneville shoreline (at South Mountain), or the Jordan river parkway between 123rd and 146th.

Well, doing this at work and people are asking me questions on conference calls... must divert attention.

TTYL

Favorites

It is always fun to find new places to run or ride. I thought it might be fun to find out some new areas that everyone else enjoys. Oh and why do I post a pix of me. I am always told I never post pix of me and posts are always better with pictures anyways.



When I was training for the SL marathon I ran part of the course prior to the big day. It starts at the University of Utah and goes through Sugar House. Now it has become one of my favorites that I try and run a few times a year.

I also really enjoy running through the Holladay, Walker Lane neighborhoods. It is very peaceful and quiet. The trees hovering over you and the birds singing always remind me why I love to do this stuff.

Team Crazy is more like it...

Ok, so our team is a bit... unsettled at the moment. Mainly, because I'm unsettled. I know that a few of you are wondering, "what's going on with our captain?" Well Jaren and I are in the middle of figuring out if we are going to have to move to Alabama (to fly helicopters with the military)...

So this means, as soon as I know if I have to move... I will have to figure out if we can in fact come back to race. Both, whether they will let us, and whether we can afford it will factor into that decision.

As for now, I'm just moving forward like I'll be here. I'm training - a lot... and still gathering team members. And their money (please?). I'm still waiting to hear from Eric (Oh Snap), and then we'll probably have our roster finalized (well except for us).

I think we should start thinking now about vans and decorations/ themes. Any ideas?

Tunes for the Trail

I run with my trusty old 8GB nano and it's great. Small, yet holds a plethora of songs. However, the old vertical design is a pain to wear on my waist, but that's not a good enough reason to go out and buy the new generation nano. A shuffle would be nice, but I can't justify dropping that much money just because I want something smaller. I got an email from Apple today stating that the 1GB shuffle is now $49. What's that you say? Oh Apple, how you force me to spend money because you are geniuses. $49 is not that much! On top of that, they're going to launch the 2GB shuffle soon for only $69. That is pure craziness! What is your technology of choice?

Wowzers

I just got an email from Ragnar and they have 456 teams registered for the Wasatch Back this year! The cap is set at 500, so they only have 44 spots left. Imagine, there are probably going to be 500 teams running with us this year. And you thought it was crowded last year with 312 teams! But, take heart, when I chatted with the Ragnar people, they said that they were going to space the start times wider and have the check points open longer.

Who We Are

Welcome to "The Ruckus"! We are a group of friends who like to compete and push their bodies to physical limits. It all started in January of 2007 when we signed up for the Wasatch Back, a crazy 200-mile relay race. We needed a name for our team, and just like that, the Ruckus was born! Since then, we have participated in other running races, triathlons and even co-ed softball. The bottom line is that we all like to compete and we like each other, so might as well train and compete together. The purpose of this blog is to give us a forum to post information about team meetings, coordinating training, game schedules and inspire each other to keep pushing!