Publicity for youngest Rank Stranger

2012 Rank Stranger Maddy Melin has been getting attention from newspapers in her local (Hinsdale, Illinois) newspapers.

Maddy article

Rank Stranger relationship map

Rank Strangers boast 40 members over eight (8) years of Madison-Chicago relays (Great Midwest Relay, Madison-Chicago 200, Ragnar).

Veterans came out to support Rank Strangers

Rank Stranger veterans Mark Golab, Jamie Quanbeck and Pete Boll turned out on race day(s) to show support for the team.  Jamie and Pete came to breakfast in Madison on Friday, June 8, and Marc met us at the finish at Montrose Harbor in Chicago.

Marc is a four-time Rank Stranger (2007, 2008, 2010, 2011), Pete a three-timer (2006, 2007, 2010) and Jamie a two-timer (2008, 2011).

Marc Golab

Jamie Quanbeck

Pete Boll

Success for Rank Strangers

Rank Strangers 2012 (left to right): Art Saffran, Monique Faber, Mark Clear, Kelly Bard, Maddy Melin, Eric Engdahl, Renee Roux, Jennifer Sell, Ed Stojakovic, Jeff Shampo, Steve Hill, Steve Smith. 

The Rank Strangers had one of their best outings in the Madison-Chicago run relay, despite hot weather that posed an extra test, temperatures in the 80s to 90s.  It wasn't all hot: there was an occasional breeze, which helped, and spots of shade were treasured.  Unfortunately, there was a lot of mileage on open roads.

The team finished the non-stop 198-mile race in 29 hours and 37 minutes for an average per mile pace of 8:57.  Fast runners in each van blazed through their legs to make our overall pace our fastest ever. Art Saffran, Jennifer Sell, Maddy Melin, Monique Faber, Steve Hill and Ed Stojakovic were the speedsters, sometimes well under 8 minutes per mile.

The team:

Mark Clear, Kelly Bard, Art Saffran, Jeff Shampo, Monique Faber, Jennifer Sell, Renee Roux, Steve Smith, Steve Hill, Eric Engdahl, Maddy Melin, Ed Stojakovic.  Our rookies were Kelly Bard from Madison, Steve Smith from Naperville and Maddy Melin from Hinsdale.   They brought the ranks of Rank Strangers to 40 different runners in eight (8) years of the relay.   Twenty-one (21) have run more than one time.

First timers Kelly Bard, Steve Smith and Maddy Melin
 at the finish, Montrose Harbor in Chicago

Jeff and Eric ran for the 8th time; they are the only ones to not miss a year with our team, which is the only one to compete in every race that started as the Great Midwest Relay, morphed into the MC200 and is now called Ragnar Chicago.   Other repeaters on the 2012 roster: Mark and Art (7 times), Renee (5), Steve Hill (4), Jennifer (3), Monique and Ed (2).   (Monique returned from the 2005 team).

What's so hard about a run relay?  Some veterans say it is more challenging than a marathon (26.2 miles) because:  you run three times in 24 hours, never letting your body recover properly; you don't get proper sleep, if any, and it is June so is often blistering hot.

Outstanding performances shook up the Rank Stranger record book.  Among the exploits:

1. Monique (11.8) had the longest run in Rank Stranger history, eclipsing Keith Dudding's 11.7 miler in 2005.  Jennifer (10.9) added the 3rd longest single runs ever.  Monique combined two legs; Jennifer's was the longest single leg the race has ever had. (Art combined two legs for a 9.1 mile run).

2. Jennifer (23.6 miles) and Monique (23.4) ran the most mileage this year, putting themselves 4th and 6th all time.  The all-time leader is Keith Dudding (28.4 miles in 2005) and Eric (26.6 miles in 2009).

3. Jeff took over the alltime mileage lead, passing Eric.  Jeff has 149.5 miles (18.7 miles per relay) to Eric's 147 (18.4 per relay).    Jeff ran his first 20 mile relay this year (20.3 miles).  He had cracked 19 miles two times in the past (19.3 in 2010 and 19.7 in 2008).   Jeff trailed Eric by 4.6 miles into this year's race.

Maddy, Steve and Kelly will get the veteran's first call for spots on the 2013 team and all the other privileges that come from being a Rank Stranger.  ("Mostly ceremonial," is how I think Art Saffran puts it).

Top 10 mileage for Rank Strangers - Jeff moved into first place this year.

Mile pace for 2012 race

The day after

Watch this space for a recap of this year's adventure - coming later today. There's a lot to share, including long hard runs by Jennifer and Monique that gave them some of the longest shifts we've ever had (+ 23 miles each). Rookies Maddy, Kelly and Steve earned their stripes - I guess that's the right pun given Renee's pick of a skunk image for team t-shirts. Everyone came through in conditions as hot as we've ever faced.


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We made it!

Ed led the entire team across the finish line at 2:12pm on Saturday. The 195 mile adventure started at 8:30am the previous day.
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Finish time estimation...7 legs to go

Eric predicts we will finish @ Montrose between 2 and 2:15pm. That's his final answer. (There won't have time for more secret calculations once Van#2s final shift begins).
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Sunrise at Racine, WI

Photo by Ed


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Running out of Friday

I hope my tweets and those of Maddy shared some of the flavor of the first three shifts (Van#2 due to finish its 2nd shift at 11:10; they'll be 2/3 done with their work).

Highlights so far included Steve Smith, Maddy Melin and Kelly Bard becoming Rank Strangers #38, 39 and 40 and Monique Faber returning from thr 2005 team to run big mileage.

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Next year's Van#1

Co-captain Mark Clear in negotiations to get this beauty as next year's ride.

Rank Strangers on the move

Art Saffran is on the left, sporting his 2012 edition orange team shirt. Start of Leg 1 in Olin Park, Madison.

Checking in

The starting gun for Rank Strangers is at 8:30AM today but the annual cycle started yesterday with the collection of runners and rental vans in Chicago and the migration to Madison.

Hot weather is expected so be prepared for tiresome blogs and tweets about that. But first, race check-in in the cool of the morning and then the traditional team breakfast. Other than a few minutes at the three van transition spots, this is the only time before the finish that we are all together. This year we'll have several (non-running) race veteran guests - Pete Boll and Jamie Quanbeck will join.

Runners: Mark Clear, Eric Engdahl, Ed Stojakovic, Steve Smith, Steve Hill, Maddy Melin, Renee Roux, Jennifer Sell, Pete Boll, Monique Faber, Kelly Bard.

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Belated congratulations for RS ultra

Congratulations are overdue to Rank Stranger Holly Dowling (2005, 2006, 2008) who ran the 50K ( 31 mile) Ice Age Trail race on May 12 in La Grange, WI.  This is a regular event for Holly and she was one of 155 finishers.

Profile: Maddy Melin

Soon-to-be sophomore Maddy Melin of Hinsdale Central High School will be the youngest Rank Stranger in 2012, and the 40th to make the journey from Madison to Chicago in the team's 8 years. A recent convert to running, Maddy has played soccer since she was 3. She has played Hinsdale Hurricanes, Eclipse, Windy City Pride, and most recently this spring Hinsdale Central on the Freshman team, for Skip Begley (who she adored!). She has been recruited for the Windy City Pride Elite 16 yr. old team in the fall.

Maddy will run out of Van#2 in the 11th spot (17.8 miles).

Maddy Melin