Meet the Fartleks

"Meet the Fartleks" was our Ragnar Relay team name.  What is a fartlek, you ask?  Fartlek is a Swedish word for "speed play".  Yes, it IS a real running term.   Our team name also plays off the movie "Meet the Fockers"... a movie I've never seen, but oh well.  Apparently, in the movie they talk about a "circle of trust" and that's just what my team had.  We trusted each other that we wouldn't die on this race!  It is also a fun word... for obvious reasons. Who doesn't think that farts can be funny?

Here we are the night before our race at my parent's house.  We decorated John and Kris' Suburban and Erik and Kimi's Expedition with vinyl lettering and window markers.  We organized supplies, and got packed up.

 Ragnar is a relay race made up of teams of 12 runners.  Each runner runs 3 times.  Wasatch Back was the very first Ragnar organized.  It starts in Logan and ends in Park City, UT.  This year, the total mileage was 197 miles, and there were approximately 1100 teams!

"Van 1" consisted of my older brother Erik (team captain) and his wife Kimi.  Their 16 yr old son, Alex, and my sister Kristen's 16 yr old boy, Hayden, were also in that car.  My cousin's 19 yr old daughter, Ashley, and my sister, Heather, were the other girls in that "van".  They began their run at 6 am in Logan, Utah.  They handed off to us in Eden around noon.

"Van 2" consisted of my older sister Kristen and her husband John.  Matt, Josh who is 15, and I were together.  And my youngest sister, Lori, was in there too.

And we can't forget our mascot, George, who has been part of our extended family since 1980.  He belongs to my little brother, Jeff.  We occasionally steal him without Jeff knowing about it.  We had his wife, Jody, send George to Kristen so we could take him on Ragnar with us.  He loves to travel:)

"Sharon" also came along for the ride.  She has run Ragnar several times with Kristen and John.  Gotta love the comic relief she brings.

Ragnar could not even happen without the hundreds of volunteers.  They are the core!  Each team has to provide 3 volunteers.  We had 4!  Kimi's sister and her boyfriend helped out, as well as Matt's brother Jed and his wife, Heather.

They worked at Snow Basin on Friday afternoon.  They had a busy day keeping track of runners finishing leg #11 which was Matt's first run.  He passed off to me.

Here is that exact moment.  I love this picture!  Check out Jed's happy face:)

Here's a bunch of pics.  I wish I had more pics of Van 1.  If I can get some, I may add them later.

ERIK

KIMI

ASHLEY

HEATHER

KIM'S RAGNAR TATOO

THREE OF THE FOUR RUNNING SISTERS

LORI'S STARTED HER 1ST RUN WEARING A CLOWN WIG

JOSH'S 1ST RUN

KRISTEN'S 1ST RUN INTO THE WIND

MATT RESTING IN MORGAN

LORI and KRISTEN (and John under his covers)

FUNNY JOSH GEARING UP FOR HIS 2nd RUN (at midnight!)

KEEPING HYDRATED IS IMPORTANT!

JOHN'S LAST LEG WAS STRAIGHT UP!

HELPING EACH OTHER WAS THE FUN PART

KRISTEN UP THE "RAGNAR" RUN

MATT'S 3RD LEG WAS SOME MAJOR DOWNHILL

LORI REALLY PUTTING ON A SHOW IN SUPPORT OF MATT

THE FINISH LINE PARTY AT PARK CITY HIGH SCHOOL

FREE PIZZA AT THE FINISH

 I will have to update this entry when we get our team picture that was taken at the Finish Line!  During the race (probably in the middle of the night when we were desperate for some sleep and a settled stomach) Matt and I both said that we'd never do this again.  But guess what?  Not even a day went by when we started talking about "next year"!!  Yep!  The Fartleks will be back next June!  Except we just might NOT be the Fartleks.  Stay tuned for a possible name change!