Lost sleep is just one of the challenges of run relays!
Yesterday’s completion of Ragnar Chicago put Rank Strangers in the record book for the 11th 200-mile Madison-Chicago run relay and our 4 newcomers brought the team’s size to 53.
This year I enjoyed the cool weather with overcast skies. Torrential rain limited to a short span that included the third leg for Van#1’s Angie “(“it wasn’t bad, really!”) Patnode; perhaps the best running weather yet.
With a rash of sub-8 minute miles -- notably from Bo, Bob and Randy – this was one of our fastest teams, covering 195 miles in 29 hours (average 8:55 per mile).
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| Race medal AND bottle opener; so versatile! |
There were 560 teams in Ragnar Chicago, which meant there were about a million large vans on the course and life-threatening traffic in elementary school parking lots in the wee hours. Official results aren’t yet available but we’ll likely have our normal middle of the pack placement.
All this talk about the past is because we treasure the relationships we’ve made, but each race is unique. Each new team’s van has its own character and makes its own history of in-jokes, mutual admiration and inspiration, and suffering and accomplishment. So, it is very much 11 separate teams and one network bound by Rank Stranger-ness.)
Special appreciation is due to 2015’s four rookies, Jill, Bob, Angie and Ivanka. Also Paul Miller who jumped in when Denise had to withdraw in the final days due to injury.
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| First-timers brought Rank Stranger ranks to 53. Clockwise from upper left: Jill, Bob, Angie, Ivanka. |
And again we owe a million thanks to the households of the team, wives, husbands, partners, children, for surrendering us to the vans.
Following are preliminary mileage results – to be validated by runners and their various tracking devices.
|
Name
|
Leg
1
|
Leg
2
|
Leg
3
|
Total
Miles
|
|
Bo
|
6
|
4.2
|
5.8
|
16
|
|
Angie
|
4.5
|
4.5
|
6.3
|
15.3
|
|
Jill
|
2.7
|
5.4
|
5.6
|
13.7
|
|
Art
|
7.6
|
4.8
|
7.6
|
20
|
|
Pete
|
6.4
|
3.8
|
4.5
|
14.7
|
|
Bob
|
9.9
|
3.1
|
6.5
|
19.5
|
|
Paul
|
7.5
|
5.4
|
6
|
18.9
|
|
Eric
|
5
|
5.3
|
4.8
|
15.1
|
|
Ivanka
|
3.5
|
5
|
4.4
|
12.9
|
|
Steve
|
5.6
|
6.2
|
3.4
|
15.2
|
|
Greg
|
5.7
|
5.9
|
5
|
16.6
|
|
Randy
|
6.8
|
2.9
|
7.5
|
17.2
|
Once adjusted I will post updates to the Rank Stranger record book.
This was the first race without Jeff Shampo, who broke his streak at 10 years. He will be back in action at the Hood To Coast relay in Oregon, August 28-29. The question “could there be a Rank Stranger race without Jeff” was answered, but he was missed!
11 years! 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 and since then it has been Ragnar Chicago. See the relationship map below to see who brought whom onto the team. There’s a circle for each of the 53 Rank Strangers, each with a line showing who recruited them.
Pictures from the race were posted here on Friday and Saturday and more are on Twitter/Instagram thanks to Van#2’s Paul Miller (see @MillerRoad). See Facebook postings of team members as well. (Our own @RankStrangers did little more than point to the blog; perhaps each van needs a Social Media Officer in addition to a Safety Officer!)
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