Recap of 2018 race - 14th in a row

Five newcomers helped Rank Strangers run its streak to 14 straight appearances in the Chicago-Madison run relay, May 18-19, 2018.  That's success every year since the race was founded in 2005 as the Great Midwest Relay.  Now known as Ragnar Chicago, the 2018 race ran BACKWARDS, traveling from Chicago to Madison.

The five rookies brought the Rank Stranger family to 65.  By tradition, all were referred by veterans: Gina Alvarado came from Florida (referred by Cathy Jooste), Margaret Jastrebski from Chicago (Cathy), Alexander Brown from Madison (Amanda Hall) and Susanna Beien and Jason Mould from Evanston (Eric).  They got the standard indoctrination: they were rained on, sleep deprived and run mercilessly. And they walked away smiling! Five newcomers was just short of the record -- we had six in 2006, 2009 and 2013.

It was the first race without at least one of this prolific trio: Jeff Shampo (11 times), Art Saffran (10) and Mark Clear (9).   We found Art on a bicycle training ride with his fundraising team (see  go.lympho.info/artsaffran ).  He filled us in on the good work of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS); truly inspirational!

The 2018 team, with the number of appearances in parentheses:

Eric Engdahl (14)
Steve Hill (9)
Renee Roux (8)
Pete Boll (8)
Cathy Jooste (5)
Melinda Roenisch (2)
Amanda Hall (2)
Gina Alvarado (1)
Margaret Jastrebski (1)
Alexander Brown (1)
Susanna Beien (1)
Jason Mould (1)

We are the only team to appear every year of a race that has changed sponsorship three times and grown from 60+ teams to 500+ teams.  We start building the roster in January, giving first choice to veterans and then tapping referrals.  What’s required to be a member of the Rank Stranger team?   1. A good sense of humor;  2. A level of fitness sufficient to run 3 times over 24 hours. 

Rank Strangers typically finish in the middle of the pack, the priority being fun, not fast. That hasn’t stopped some of the runners from blazing to fast times on their legs, however.   The team has many experienced marathoners, including Boston qualifiers and Iron Man triathletes.  (Our 2018 placing was 284th out of 321 in the Open division, 34 hours and 9 minutes for 189.6 miles (10:48 per mile pace).)

There was some complexity in making this happen, starting with assembling the team: Pete, Amanda and Alexander drove their van from Madison to Waukegan, IL, and picked up Cathy, Gina and Margaret at a nearby train station. (Cathy and Gina flew in from Florida on Wednesday; Margaret lives in downtown Chicago. An early morning commuter took them from Chicago north to Waukegan.)

"Rank Strangers" is word play in a number of ways. Mostly significantly, they are NOT strangers.  Everyone has been referred by a Stranger. 2005 runner Keith Dudding 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 would more closely resemble a tune made popular by The Stanley Brothers ... ‘Rank Strangers’.”

During the non-stop relay, each team member runs three legs, each leg ranging between 3 - 10 miles. 

We have two large vans, with six runners in each. The first vehicle will watch the first runner begin, drive ahead a few miles, cheer the runner on, and provide them with water, snacks, and encouragement. That vehicle will then drive ahead to the first exchange point to drop off the second runner, and pick up the runner completing the first leg. The pattern repeats for six legs until they hand the baton to the second vehicle. This leapfrogging pattern will continue all the way to the finish line.

The following from the team Record Book shows who has run by year, in last name order: