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Ragnar Relay - White Cliffs - Seafront Plodder - 26-09-2017
As some here will know, for the last two years I have been a support driver for The Brighton Marathon, a race which is now the second largest marathon in the UK after err…that other one.
I volunteer for a few reasons. As a seasoned marathon man of 3 it is good to be back amongst the buzz and ralgex smell without having to do any training; I get to drive a big truck the wrong way around the City roads, and of course I give something back and get an insight into the sheer logistical horror that is any big city race involving many road closures.
The organisation behind the race is Grounded Events Ltd. So when they contacted me to ask whether I wanted to volunteer to help at their next venture, well I was interested.
Ragnar Relay. What? I hear you ask. Well clearly you Googling it is far easier than me explaining here, but essentially it’s a relay race run overnight where teams of 10 take it in turns to run a course while his/her team mates in a minibus (or a couple of cars) drive on to a pre-determined exchange point to await their team mate’s arrival before the next runner goes. It’s big in the US but over here this was the inaugural event. 177 miles from Maidstone to Brighton closely following the coast.
http://live-grounded-events.antlabcms.co.uk/ragnar-relay-series
I was part of Team 3 of 4 responsible for setting up 45 miles of the route – and of course, collecting it all up again after the last runner had gone through.
Here’s the course. http://shared.galileo-app.com/59a578286a01e250b9d272dd.html
The Grounded Events Team had pre-loaded a Luton van with everything that we needed and we picked it up on Friday afternoon for the drive to Maidstone where we had a final briefing before staying in a local hotel.
What was in the van? Signage and cones, a GPS-friendly iPad loaded with a hyper-detailed map of the course and showing every sign point, a radio, hi-viz, lights, gaffer tape (didn’t use that) cable ties - stuff like that. And since sponsorship was secured with Reebock, a rather fetching top, baseball hat and a pair of running shoes for our troubles.
The event meant spending two nights away from home as we all had to be signing and checking our section at the crack of dawn on Saturday, then collecting the whole lot up at first light on the Sunday. Knackering it was, but such fun too.
There were, of course many cock-ups. Signage getting vandalised or blown over was the most common as this left the runners with no clue of the route. Stuff to iron out but I’m told it will happen next year….. I’ll be there.
RE: Ragnar Relay - Whitecliffs - Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man - 26-09-2017
Great work, Mr P. Are there any signs of you wanting to actually run again, though?
RE: Ragnar Relay - Whitecliffs - Sweder - 26-09-2017
Nice work, Big man. Some us know all too well what it takes to put these events on.
Without people like you, it just wouldn't happen. Bravo.
RE: Ragnar Relay - Whitecliffs - glaconman - 26-09-2017
Agreed. The whole running circus depends upon people giving up their own time to put events on. Nice one SP.
Long distance relays are amazing. There's a good book about Japanese Ekiden if anybody is interested:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Way-Runner-journey-Japanese-running/dp/0571303161
RE: Ragnar Relay - White Cliffs - Antonio247 - 26-09-2017
Fantastic work, SP. It must be tough but quite rewarding.
Will the 9 K duel with El Gordo be in Almería next February?
Saludos desde Almería