Rank Stranger history of fun in annual "running vacation"

Members of team Rank Strangers know best the excitement Ragnar has brought to the Madison to Chicago race.   That’s because this team has been at it since the race began in 2005 -- the only team to participate in all eight races -- including six times before it took the Ragnar Chicago name in 2011.

Pre-Ragnar, the race barely exceeded 100 teams and now there are more than 400.  “The change in the energy level is incredible,” says Rank Stranger co-founder Eric Engdahl. “There were lonely times on the course in the early years.  Now, there are always runners around you, which keeps us charging from start to finish.”

Chicago-based Engdahl teamed with Mark Clear of Madison to form the team that has fielded 40 different runners, and looks to introduce six rookies to the course this year.  The growing network is their proudest accomplishment.  “Each has been introduced by a Rank Stranger or a close friend,” Engdahl says.  “We ask them to suggest people they’d enjoy having in their van.”  Beyond that, it is about love of running, and having a sense of humor.

Rank Stranger co-founders Eric Engdahl and Mark Clear 

“It’s a running vacation,” Engdahl says.  “I get to step completely out of my routine and for a couple of days – starting when we drive a van up from Chicago – my job is running.  And I get to build on strong friendships that have formed over the years, one race at a time.”

So far there’s been only one relay for Clear (mostly a bicyclist before he caught the relay bug) and Engdahl (27 marathons).  They met through work, partnering on a web development project. The announcement of  the Madison-Chicago race caught their attention.  What started as the Great Midwest Relay (GMR) in 2005 switched to Madison Chicago 200 (MC200) after two years.  Ragnar was behind the scenes in 2010 when race size jumped over 200 teams for the first time and since then it has been Ragnar Chicago.

The team’s priority is fun, not fast.  Rank Strangers typically finish in the middle of the pack. That hasn’t stopped some of the runners from blazing to fast times on their legs, however.   The team has many experienced marathoners, including six Boston qualifiers and two Iron Man triathletes.

"Rank Strangers" is a play on words. Mostly significantly, they are NOT strangers.  2005 runner Keith Dudding from the St. Louis area coined the team name, drawing inspiration from an old song, "I am a poor wayfaring stranger travelling through this world of woe."   He added, “actually, after we've all run a leg or two, we more closely resemble a tune made popular by The Stanley Brothers ... ‘Rank Strangers’.”

Veterans Jeff Shampo and Art Saffran

Rank Stranger team building includes tracking individual exploits on the team blog ( www.rankstrangers.info ) and circulating weekly training tips.  Engdahl compiles an annual photo book, commemorating the team's accomplishments.  A recent development is trading cards; photo on the front and statistics (each year’s miles by leg) on the back.  “Anything and everything to keep people thinking about next year’s team,” Engdahl says.

Back to the growing Rank Stranger community: there is a relationship map that shows who brought whom onto the team.  There’s a circle for each of the 40 Rank Strangers, each with a line showing who recruited them.

The shaded circles on the relationship map denote the twenty-one Rank Strangers who have run multiple races.   Engdahl and Jeff Shampo of Madison have run all eight years.   Clear and Art Saffran of Madison have raced 7 of 8.  Renee Roux of Chicago has raced five times.

There will be seven additions to the group this year. Several bring experience from Ragnar Las Vegas and Ragnar So Cal.

Rank Strangers represent a variety of careers. For example, Mark Clear is Executive Director of Accelerate Madison, a networking and educational organization focused on digital technology, as well as Alder, District 19, for the City of Madison since 2007.  Eric Engdahl is a manager at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois.   Art Saffran is an independent technology consultant for small and medium businesses and non-profits and   Team In Training coach.  Jeff Shampo is an attorney, Renee Roux an IT executive and Keith Dudding a corporate training specialist.