Race Report: 2011 Ragnar Relay Tennessee, Part 1

Ragnar Relay Tennessee from Chattanooga to Nashville 196.1 miles

Team "Do Not Resuscitate"
Total Time: 27h 50m 13s (8:31 pace) -> It wasn't me! ;-)
Overall 56/211
Category 16/33

Pre-Race:

With the start line in Chattanooga, traveling in the morning of the race was out of question. So I went to work Thursday morning and after I got back home, we headed straight to Walhalla SC to pick up our rental van (we use the same place for rental every time). Van 1 decided to head out a little earlier and the van 2 people decided to meet up at 3pm. It took us a while to get the van stuff sorted out and packed up, but we still were able to hit the road on time.

Seriously, there is no good way to get from the Upstate to Chattanooga. And we chose the scenic route for sure. Van 2 was housing all the newbies of this year's version of DNR and so we spend a good bit of time of just getting to knew each other... Might as well, since we would be looked up in a van for the next couple of days! ;-)

We got to Chattanooga around an hour after van 1 and didn't even bother checking into the hotel first, but met the rest of the team at a steak house across the road.... There was beer! And it was yummie!

After dinner, we finally checked into the hotel, got our AWESOME team sweatshirts. And then talked start line logistics.... While there are advantages and disadvantages to being in van 1 vs van 2, one of the HUGE advantages of van 2? Sleeping in! Especially, since van 1 didn't mind to be at the start line alone! Sweet!

After sleeping in and having a nice breakfast, van 2 rolled into exchange zone 6 were we would take over from van 1 in a couple of hours.

We used the time to get checked in (they actually do check, if you have a safety vest for everyone with you), did the safety briefing....

.... fueled again....

... checked out the swag.... (swag only found at a relay: baby wipes, hand sanitizer and window marker ;-)

... admired the van art...

... and took a van 2 group picture... yes, it was a little chilly! ;-) Those sweat shirts were life savers!

Soon, it was time to reunite with van 1 and take over the slap bracelet...  Stay tuned.