Rank Strangers rewrite the record book

The 2011 Rank Strangers crowded to the top of the team's all time mileage chart and set several other records.
In addition to shaking up the all time mileage list:
- Steve Hill joined the 20 mile club with 20.1 miles in his third outing. He came close in 2010 with 19.9 miles. Marc Golab also topped 20 miles for the 2nd time, with 20.7.
- Kim Hill joined the 19 mile list.
- Ed Stojakovic and Reggie Hill became Rank Stranger alumni, bringing the count to 37, 19 of whom have run multiple times.
On the all time mileage chart, 11 of the top 20 in mileage ran with the team this year. Jennifer (33rd going into the race), Jamie (32nd), Brad (30th), Debra (27th) and Kim (21st) jumped into the top 20 in mileage, all with at least 24 total relay miles (Jamie is 20th with 24.2 miles).
Eric stayed at #1 with 137.3 total miles, with Jeff second with 129.2. Art leapfrogged Mark Clear into third place.
Following is the top of the mileage list. See the "Record Book" page for the full list and the 20 and 19 mile lists.

Safety gear gets a scrubbing before its long rest

Their brief time in the spotlight over, the Rank Stranger blinky vests, headlamps and reflective vests have been cleaned and stowed away until 2012. Batteries were recycled. (Some racers favored their own headlamps but the Rank Stranger gear got a lot of sweaty action).

Race results

Rank Strangers finished 103rd out of 167 teams in Ragnar Chicago's OPEN DIVISION: MIXED REGULAR. Our average pace for the 197 miles was 9 minutes and 11 seconds per mile. See the Ragnar website for complete results --> results

The team 12 Monkeys won the division by almost 2 hours and placed third overall. That team averaged 6 minutes and 44 seconds per mile. The top 3 finishers:

Wrapping up

Team: congratulations again on a great job in the relay! Thanks for making it possible. I love the challenge of the relay but obviously with no teammates there's no relay. I've been struggling with my fitness but feel really good about my three runs. The good running weather helped me but I was also inspired by my teammates.

2011 Rank Strangers: Renee, Brad, Marc, Eric, Ed, Steve, Debra, Jamie, Kim, Jeff, Jennifer, Art.

Thanks to Renee for the great t-shirts. They are REALLY loud. Perfect for Rank Strangers.

Please send me your digital photos; I'll be assembling the annual photo book in the coming months.

Rank Stranger trivia fans: you can expect an update soon to the record book. Several noteworthy performances this year.

Rookie of the year? Ed, obviously. In addition to being a great, supportive teammate he is perhaps the fastest RS ever.

Performance of the year? So many great ones, but my vote goes to Kim's 9.9-miler on Saturday. A stiff and sore Van#2 had a daunting set of runs (9.9 by Kim, 8.2 by Ed, 7.8 by Steve) to finish out the race and Kim set the tone.

I hope everyone has made a good start at catching up on lost sleep - I certainly have.

Eric

Tee shirt study, courtesy of Art:

Done!

Rank Strangers wrapped up their 7th Madison-Chicago relay this afternoon. Great job, team!

Down to the final 2 legs

Rank Strangers are down to the final two legs in the 200 mile relay but they are tough ones, 8.2 miles (Ed) and 7.8 miles (Steve aka Pete). (Renee just finished).

Brave smile

Kim can still smile in the midst of her heroic effort on the longest leg -- 9.9 miles (tough enough if that was all she was doing this weekend but it's her THIRD run in 24 hours).

The run was one of the longest single legs in 7 years for the Rank Strangers.

1 down, 5 legs to go to the finish

Eric is in, Kim on the course and Marc, Renee, Ed, Steve on deck.

Trash talk

NOT Rank Stranger style, obviously, but this kind of thing does happen in the run relay.

Van#1 starts last shift, missing a runner

3:45am

...but he was quickly found and returned. (Jeff's van lost him in the church. He had a nice rest, he reported.)

Jeff, who doesn't believe in cell phones, disappeared for a snooze in the labyrinthine St. Andrew's church and couldn't be flushed out before Art needed to start the van's final shift. Van#1 needed to give chase, so they left Van#2 to cast a net on the missing Stranger. He turned up about 20 minutes after Van#1 hit the road. Van#2 kept him in custody until Van#1 could swing back to the church to pick him up. (Jeff had the long run for his van, a 7.8 mile shift, so they certainly didn't want to leave him behind, though it was tempting for Van#2 to take him hostage!).

Next transition in Zion, IL at approximately 8:30am.

Guessing game - when will we reach Chicago

The 1:14AM (barely to halfway) estimate of our finishing time is 2PM. We'll know more later, of course, but it looks certain we'll be much earlier than Eric's prior estimates.

Eric finishing leg 19 at 12:15am

Dark

It's 9:45pm, Van#1 is active and Van#2, freshly showered (Carroll College !!!!), is eating pasta at MLK High School in Greendale, WI. Next transition is at approximately midnight.

Renee finishing strong

First of 3 legs.

Kim on the run

Water? Yes, please!

Kim ran in the first relay in 2005 and she's back for more.

After

Eric finishing his first leg.

Eric, the before picture

Turn the team number over and you get 9-1-1. But no fear.

Van transition area

Lake Mills, Wisconsin.

Missing a 15-passenger van? It might be here.

Van#2 is waiting for Jeff to finish the first shift for Van#1. Eric will
lead things off.

Van#1 is 2/3 through its first shift

Jamie is on the trail, Art, Debra and Brad having done their work. Van#2 is waiting in Lake Mills (dry, breezy, 59 degrees F).

Weather lament

For all of our excitement about the recent break in the hot spell (blistering heat not being conducive to good running) this damp chill isn't exactly the alternative we were looking for.

Art - the before picture

Minutes before the start in Madison.

We are off

A break in the rain and Art starts things off in Madison.

Not a pretty picture

Disturbing picture the night before the big relay: Madison covered by a big storm. Happily, we didn't get dumped on during the race, though it was drippy during the early Friday morning registration. It turned out to be about the best race ever for running - cool rather than the blistering heat that typically plagues us.

Rank Strangers have assembled in Madison. Chicagoans having beers at the Sheraton bar with the safety gear (SOME of the Chicagoans; some are getting their rest before the big day).

Thursday-Friday-Saturday agenda (June 9 - 11)

AGENDA

(updated 7 June 3PM)

Thursday, June 9
----------------

4pm Eric pick up Steve at Metra
4:15 Steve & Eric collect Van#1
4:30 Steve depart with Van#1 for Madison
6:00 Van#2: Eric pick up team members at Cumberland El Stop
6:30 Van#2: Pick up Marc in Barrington
approx 7:30 Van#1: @ Sheraton - Art/Jeff exchange safety gear for Van#1
approx 8:30 Van#2 arrive at Sheraton

Friday, June 10
---------------

6:00 Drive to start for sign-in
6:05 Sign-in
6:45 Sheraton crew meet van and drive to Perkins Restaurant at 1410 Damon Rd, Madison
7 Breakfast
7:55 transfer supplies between vans; load reflective vests; maps
8 Both vans leave for start
8:15 team photo
8:30 start

Van#2:

10:30 Check out of Sheraton and drive to Lake Mills (first Van Transition Area)
11:30 lunch and other pleasures in Lake Mills
12:20 safety check at Lake Mills

Saturday, June 11
---------------

Approx 5:30PM finish (Follow blogging on Saturday morning for revised estimate)
6PM leave Montrose Harbor
approx 9PM reach Madison

Ragnar effect - it isn't the MC200 any more

Rank Stranger veterans: you think you know the Madison - Chicago relay? Discussion at the Ragner Team Captain meeting on Thursday night convinced me we are in for a new experience.

The new race organizer's mission isn't preserving our beloved MC200; they want to apply their cookie cutter approach to race organization. It is still going to be a blast, we just need to be sensitive to changes. (In addition to our race, which they label Chicago, there are 14 more Ragnar relays: Wasatch Back, Northwest Passage, Great River, Napa Valley, Washington DC, Las Vegas, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Florida Keys, Del Sol, So Cal, Florida Central, New York, New England.)

Want details? See the Race Bible on the Ragnar website www.ragnarrelay.com ( http://tinyurl.com/3n5hny6 ) .

Just want the highlights? Here are what I consider the big changes:

1. There are numerous alterations to the course, including several new transition areas.

2. The "off" van is banned from the course.

3. Seven (7) legs are deemed "no support" which means the active van isn't allowed to come to the course. There will be at least 1 water station between exchanges for these legs. The legs: 4 (Brad), 5 (Jamie), 7 (Eric), 10 (Renee), 11 (Ed), 13 (Art) and 30 (Jeff).

4. Reflective vests must be worn when we leave the active van.

Why the changes? Ragner says it is the size of the race. Some of the old transition areas were too small to handle this year's 360 teams (more than twice the previous high). "No support" legs? There are safety concerns about letting a mass of vans onto the little side roads to root on our runners.

Ragnar says: "There will be 14 race officials monitoring all race rules along the course. Teams will be observed throughout the race to make sure they are following the rules. Teams will be notified by text message when a rule violation has occurred. If a team receives 3 violations they will be disqualified. Course marshals may also disqualify teams on the spot without prior warning for serious rule violations."

Mileage for several legs have changed in 2011