Debbie King's Staging Area

Oh my! Glamping is the best!! Ragnar puts on great races. This is the second one our team ran and this year we chose to glamp. Totally worth the extra money. The race event is well organized, great communication, easy check in, awesome medals, shirts we ‘ehhh’ this year, but we designed our own team shirts so it’s all good. The scenery on all the courses was amazing. Yellow was the hilliest route and I ran it at night but lots of twists and turns. The trail was very well marked! Our team didn’t all finish their loops so we have a DNF, but I completed all of mine. These runs, for our team, are such a bonding fun experience. It’s our girls’ get away weekend. We don’t run these to win awards, we run them for the adventure and comraderie from not only our team, but all the runners out there. Runners are the best.

This race went really well for me. It was my 2nd fastest half marathon (only 2nd to my Revel downhill half), but only over it by 5 min. The course is flat with what I call inclines and declines (not hills by any means). We started downtown near the Alamo (due to a lot of construction we were not routed through the Alamo on this run), this was a lot of cobblestone to run over. I was cautious to watch my footing. We proceeded in turns and loops where you could see other runners, ran through a nice neighborhood with some beautiful homes, regular paved roads, and on to the River Walk path which has beautiful scenery. This is where the inclines came in to play. There was plenty of space to run without weaving around everyone. Water and Gatorade where really the only support along the route, but they were about every mile after the first 1.5 miles. Crowd support did not exist except for the families cheering on their family and friends running. There was a nice bunch at the park we ran by where there were drummers, mariachi band, pretzels, beer, and oranges. The finish was a nice long corral where cheering was great. After party had beer from local breweries, good food consisting of potatoes, pulled chicken, beans, tortillas, and a brownie, chocolate milk, and water. The expo….well there wasn’t one. It was just bib pickup and the shirt which was a bit of a disappointment to me this year. Very plain and not the best material. The medal was large and a saddle this year — very nice!

We doubled this run with the 5K donut dash which was the day before. We were to get a 3rd medal for running both (on the website when we signed up), but amazingly it disappeared and people in charge of the race gave us three different answers when we asked about it….1.) no they weren’t giving them out this year, 2.) they didn’t come in and we will mail them, 3.) I don’t know. Really disappointed with this as we wouldn’t have signed up for both if there was not a 3rd medal. We will be writing to someone about it.

All in all I enjoyed the race. We rented an airbnb right by the River Walk and spent Wed – Mon as a family runcation. (Be sure to check out Fredericksburg if you attend – cute town and lots of wineries and delicious German food).

You can’t pick a better place to run a half marathon than in Forest Park. The time of year this is held the trees are phenomenal. The half marathon has you running on the streets of the park. There were court marshalls and people to hold up traffic for you. Packet pickup was super smooth. (I chose the day of). A nice medal is given at the end. Nice after snacks and water. Chip timed. Water stations, there were only 3 this year due to people cancelling at the last minute to volunteer and help. Be prepared with your own water (I do this at ANY race). There was only water and maybe gatorade or something at the stations; no snacks. The park has rolling hills, some a bit bigger than others, but all are manageable.

I signed up for this one because 20 miles was on my training schedule for my marathon training and decided 13.1 with others is much better than by myself. I continued running the additional miles in the park.

If you are from out of town, plan to visit the Zoo, Jewel Box, and other areas of the park. They are free admittance. Plenty of hotels in the area to stay.

This was an amazing race. Communication was great, the EXPO had a lot of vendors and photo ops. There were plenty of busses to bring us up the mountain. They gave us gloves and a mylar blanket so we could stay warm before we started. The course is absolutely beautiful. It has plenty of downhill with the last 3 miles being essentially flat. (My quads, calves, ankles, and feet ached for 3 days, but in the best way possible)! I PR’d my half by 14 minutes. At first I didn’t think it legit to count a mostly downhill run, but after I ran it, yeah, it’s legit! Definitely a different workout. I plan to run more of the REVEL series. The post race was also fantastic. A good brewery serving craft beer, massages, creamsicles, pizza, chocolate milk, snacks, and water. The photos are fantastic and you can create your own little video with the photos for free.

We had a team of 8 ladies. This was our first Ragnar and first time running as a team. It took us a little longer to run it but we did it. It was exceptionally warm for MI that weekend but we are from MO so tolerated it ok. Chilly at night though so bring a warm sleeping bag. Everything from sign up to leaving went smoothly. Unloading our vehicle and bringing everything to a camp spot was a bit of work (Next one we are glamping), but it went smoothly with all of us. The course is beautiful scenery. Each loop starts up a hill with sand. We just all opted to walk that each time. I had the joy of running through the woods at 2am and it is just amazing to listen to the night as you run. Lots of roots just high enough to stub your toes on though. I walked a lot of the trail at night and just enjoyed it. My biggest concern was being on the trail and getting hurt. There are not course marshalls and cell signal is spotty so if you are down you are waiting for another runner to get help. We said ‘one and done’ but by the time we were packing up the cars to go home we were planning the next one. Oh, and it was such an amazing bonding experience we are all getting tattoos. LOL. (adding we are a group of women ranging in age from 35-67).

Evening activities included a movie with a bonfire and s’mores. The best part of the trail Ragnar is having the base camp. We all were able to meet our runner and cheer them as they came in and still be able to rest, relax, and enjoy each other’s company.

Really loved it and we will be doing several more Ragnars.

I chose this race because I love Halloween. My son and I did the 4 mile in costume the morning before the half. I ran the half. It is scenic as you run along the trail next to the Canal. It is a flat course and mostly small gravel trail. It is a super cute town. We did the haunted canal boat ride the night before the race. We stayed in an Airbnb that is in the historic district. Race registration, packet pickup, and expo were easy and nice.

Such a fun relay! Ending in beautiful Herman, MO is fantastic. We booked an AirBNB for Saturday night. It is a great bonding experience. The weather was very hot, but we powered through and made it.

I ran Lake Powell Half with Vacation Races. It was covid year but they still held it, but altered the course (and it was harder, but beautiful). Uphill through sand to the most beautiful path to run watching the sun rise. There were several spots where family could cheer us on. Beautiful finish down the sandy hill and through a spectacular canyon. The weather there is my favorite. Be sure to hydrate because when you sweat it just evaporates off. No humidity. I loved it being from MO.