Rank Strangers brought experience to the 2017 Madison-Chicago run relay but once again it was a fresh, unique challenge. The June 9-10 race was our 13th straight appearance and our 12 person team had a cumulative 43 years of Madison-Chicago experience. But there's magic in the new van combinations; new alliances formed and old friends had a year's worth of catching up. We are the only team to appear every year of the race, which has changed sponsorship three times and has grown from 60+ teams to 500+ teams. This year it was called Reebok Ragnar Chicago.
The Rank Stranger family grew to 60 with the addition of three rookies on this year's team. Of veterans, team co-founders Eric Engdahl and Mark Clear represented the inaugural 2005 team, accompanied by long-timers Steve Hill (8th race), Randy Meacham (5th race). Cathy Jooste, Ed Stojakovic and Paul Miller became 4-timers.
The newcomers were Melinda Roenisch, referred by Ed, William Serpa, referred by Eric's friend Rich Go, and Emma Guiot, high school exchange student who will ran with her USA dad, Randy. Emma returned to her small hometown in northwestern France shortly after the race. The relationship map at the back of the book shows who-brought-whom onto the team.
The appearance and our 12 person team had a cumulative 43 years of Madison-Chicago experience. But there's magic in the new van combinations; new alliances formed and old friends had a year's worth of catching up. We are the only team to appear every year of the race, which has changed sponsorship three times and has grown from 60+ teams to 500+ teams. This year it was called Reebok Ragnar Chicago.
The Rank Stranger family grew to 60 with the addition of three rookies on this year's team. Of veterans, team co-founders Eric Engdahl and Mark Clear represented the inaugural 2005 team, accompanied by long-timers Steve Hill (8th race), Randy Meacham (5th race). Cathy Jooste, Ed Stojakovic and Paul Miller became 4-timers.
The newcomers were Melinda Roenisch, referred by Ed, William Serpa, referred by Eric's friend Rich Go, and Emma Guiot, high school exchange student who will ran with her USA dad, Randy. Emma returned to her small hometown in northwestern France shortly after the race. The relationship map at the back of the book shows who-brought-whom onto the team.
We have two large vans, with six runners in each. The members of the van watch their first runner begin, drive ahead a few miles, cheer the runner on, offering water and encouragement. That vehicle then drives ahead to the exchange point where they drop off the second runner, and pick up the runner completing the first leg. The pattern repeats for six legs until the vans last runner hands off to the first runner in the other van. This leapfrogging pattern continues all the way to the finish line. The "off" van moves into position for the next handoff. Food? A shower? Sleep? Sometimes yes, sometimes no.
Some trivia about this years team: Six (6) of this year's runners raced together in 2016 (Mark, Cathy, Peter, Bob, Eric, Steve). Five (5) ran on our 2015 Hood To Coast (Oregon) team (Cathy, Eric, Steve, Ed, Randy), with Van#1s designated driver, Art Saffran, making six.
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| 2017 team: (back row): Cathy, Eric, Mark, Randy, Steve, Ed, Emma; (front row): Paul, Bob, Peter, William. Not picture: Melinda. |
The updated record book (this year's runners in bold):
Rank Stranger
|
Relays
|
Miles
per relay |
Total
Miles |
Eric Engdahl
|
13
|
16.9
|
219.4
|
Jeff Shampo
|
11
|
18.4
|
202.3
|
Art Saffran
|
10
|
17.6
|
176.1
|
Steve Hill
|
8
|
18.7
|
149.5
|
Mark Clear
|
9
|
14.0
|
126.6
|
Pete Boll
|
7
|
16.1
|
112.4
|
Renee Roux
|
7
|
15.4
|
107.6
|
Randy Meacham
|
5
|
15.7
|
78.4
|
Ed Stojakovic
|
4
|
18.8
|
75.1
|
Paul Miller
|
4
|
17.6
|
70.3
|
Marc Golab
|
4
|
17.5
|
69.8
|
Holly Dowling
|
3
|
19.8
|
59.3
|
Cathy Jooste
|
4
|
13.9
|
55.6
|
Bob Holzer
|
3
|
17.7
|
53.1
|
Jennifer Sell
|
3
|
16.9
|
50.6
|
Greg
Masenthin
|
3
|
16.5
|
49.4
|
Bo Lackey
|
3
|
15.0
|
45.1
|
Martin Tagge
|
2
|
21.3
|
42.5
|
Monique Faber
|
2
|
20.4
|
40.8
|
Peter Wagner
|
2
|
20.4
|
40.8
|
Chris
Montgomery
|
2
|
18.4
|
36.7
|
Kim Hill
|
2
|
17.9
|
35.8
|
Anne Martino
|
2
|
16.9
|
33.9
|
Debra Addison
|
2
|
15.3
|
30.5
|
Brad Clark
|
2
|
14.9
|
29.8
|
Keith Dudding
|
1
|
28.4
|
28.4
|
David Maze
|
1
|
24.7
|
24.7
|
Jamie
Quanbeck
|
2
|
12.1
|
24.2
|
Denise
Meacham
|
2
|
11.8
|
23.5
|
Therese Nolan
|
1
|
21.8
|
21.8
|
Beth Fegan
|
1
|
20.7
|
20.7
|
Fred Bounds
|
1
|
18.6
|
18.6
|
Marc
Damerjian
|
1
|
18.4
|
18.4
|
Ed Heberlein
|
1
|
18.1
|
18.1
|
Daniela
Gavric
|
1
|
18.0
|
18.0
|
Maddy Melin
|
1
|
17.8
|
17.8
|
Pati Flannery
|
1
|
17.8
|
17.8
|
Steve Smith
|
1
|
17.3
|
17.3
|
Ryan Lipscomb
|
1
|
16.7
|
16.7
|
Suzanne Shoff
|
1
|
16.6
|
16.6
|
Sergey Petrov
|
1
|
16.6
|
16.6
|
Rachael
Weiker
|
1
|
16.6
|
16.6
|
Suzanne
Holmes
|
1
|
16.4
|
16.4
|
Rachel Rivard
|
1
|
15.9
|
15.9
|
Bill Shepard
|
1
|
15.7
|
15.7
|
Angie Patnode
|
1
|
15.3
|
15.3
|
Ann Wilson
|
1
|
14.5
|
14.5
|
Steve Schmidt
|
1
|
14.1
|
14.1
|
Pat Hurley
|
1
|
13.9
|
13.9
|
Jill
Buhrfiend
|
1
|
13.7
|
13.7
|
Ivanka Sans
Sarocelsky
|
1
|
13.7
|
13.7
|
Melinda Roenisch
|
1
|
13.6
|
13.6
|
Emma Guiot
|
1
|
13.5
|
13.5
|
Tim Scott
|
1
|
13.2
|
13.2
|
William Serpa
|
1
|
13.0
|
13.0
|
Beverly
Schuller
|
1
|
10.0
|
10.0
|
Amanda Hall
|
1
|
10.0
|
10.0
|
Kelly Bard
|
1
|
9.3
|
9.3
|
Cathy Van
Leuven
|
1
|
8.6
|
8.6
|
Reggie Hill
|
1
|
2.5
|
2.5
|
20 mile relays (this year's additions to the list in bold):
Rank Stranger
|
Relay
|
Miles
|
Keith Dudding
|
2005
|
28.4
|
Eric Engdahl
|
2009
|
26.6
|
Dave Maze
|
2007
|
24.7
|
Jennifer Sell
|
2012
|
23.6
|
Randy Meacham
|
2007
|
23.5
|
Monique Faber
|
2012
|
23.4
|
Steve Hill
|
2016
|
22.7
|
Holly Dowling
|
2008
|
22.0
|
Therese Nolan
|
2013
|
21.8
|
Martin Tagge
|
2010
|
21.7
|
Eric Engdahl
|
2005
|
21.3
|
Eric Engdahl
|
2007
|
20.8
|
Marc Golab
|
2010
|
20.8
|
Marc Golab
|
2011
|
20.7
|
Beth Fegan
|
2013
|
20.7
|
Art Saffran
|
2006
|
20.6
|
Ed Stojakovic
|
2014
|
20.5
|
Peter
Wagner
|
2017
|
20.5
|
Pete Boll
|
2007
|
20.3
|
Steve
Hill
|
2017
|
20.4
|
Jeff Shampo
|
2012
|
20.3
|
Peter Wagner
|
2016
|
20.3
|
Steve Hill
|
2011
|
20.1
|
Jeff Shampo
|
2013
|
20.1
|
Art Saffran
|
2014
|
20.1
|
Art Saffran
|
2015
|
20.0
|
The Hall of Fame (60 Rank Strangers):
Relationship map:
