2019 race facts (Ragnar "Great Midwest Relay")

Ragnar is taking most of Illinois out of our relay but the upside will be the novelty of many new "legs".  The May 17-18 race will start in Waukegan, Ilinois, which hugs the Wisconsin border. That was our first van transition site in 2018, 40 miles north of Chicago.

There will be only 8 race miles in Illinois (4% of total) compared to 44 miles (24%) in 2018.  That will be the least-ever number of miles in Illinois.   We will travel through Milwaukee's lakefront, north a good distance and then zigzag westward north of I94 before dropping down to join the traditional course at the final van transition in Lake Mills.  The finish will be at Madison's Olin Park.   (Course) The course is unlikely to be finalized before early May, 

Last year's Wisconsin vs. Chicago mileage ratio was typical, though the race flipped the start from Madison to Chicago and moved the finish far from the Chicago lakefront, to Morton Grove, IL.

The 15th Rank Stranger team will have two (3) rookies, Heidi Oberstadt, Courtney Rettew and Lorenzo Gholston, joining veterans Greg Masenthin, Steve Hill, Gina Alvarado, Cathy Jooste,  Peter Wagner, Pete Boll, Amanda Hall, Randy Meacham and Alexander Brown.  Heidi is the 66th, Courtney the 67th and Lorenzo the 68th Rank Stranger.

The van lineup:

"Chicago" van - Steve, Greg, Gina, Cathy, Courtney, Randy

"Madison" van - Lorenzo, Pete, Amanda, Alexander, Heidi, Peter

Ragnar web site
Runner packet (likely to change prior to race)
Recap of 2018 race

Giving

Ragnar targets two charities, Back On My Feet and CARA Road Scholars.  Back On My Feet combats homelessness through the power of running, community support, and essential employment and housing resources.   Road Scholars builds confidence and self-esteem, for at-risk Chicago area high school students, through a mentorship-based running program that achieves positive impact in education and life.  CARA unites dedicated mentors with teens to train for and successfully complete a 5k or 10k race and a half marathon.  Beyond learning to run, these students learn goal setting and gain self-confidence.  

Consider giving to causes supported by Rank Strangers who have linked their athletic feats to fundraising.

Paul Miller (4

-time Rank Stranger,

2013-2015, 2017) 

Paul Miller's most-recent effort for Blessons For Women (Paul's link) was in January.  Belsson's mission statement: Blessons Scholarships for Women provides free mentorship and educational workshops for all women, in addition to scholarships to disadvantaged, low-income women who are 25 years or older and who have had their higher education interrupted due to challenging life lessons such as; cancer, mental illness, physical or emotional abuse, sex trafficking or who are first generation female immigrants. 

Art Saffran (10-time Rank Stranger,

2005-2010)

Art Saffran has been active with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team In Training (TNT) since  2004, when he ran the Anchorage marathon in honor of his best friend, who lost his battle with leukemia.   Art's bicycling team, Lymphomaniacs, is a fundraising powerhouse in the annual 2-day Scenic Shore race.   This year's Scenic Shore will be July 20-21, 2019.

Art's Lymphomaniacs page


History lesson

Great Midwest Relay?   This name strikes a chord.   It was the name of the Madison-Chicago relay in when it was inaugurated in 2005.  Rank Strangers is the only team to participate in every outing - reaching the count of 15 in 2019.

The following graph from a 2015 blog post showed the progression of relay names and registration.