Race time was quickly approaching. It was sometime around 6:45 am when we found our van 1 teammates. They were in the safety seminar finding out why one should wear the headlight and the reflector jacket at night. They were also being informed of the necessity to cross the street, when not running, with the orange Ragnar stuff. Thrilling stuff really… After finishing the seminar we went to go pick up said flags, along with van 1′s bibs, their goody bag, and the whole team’s tees. But most importantly we were given the baton – the slap band baton, to be specific. Immediately Roly, the designated van 1 captain, and Ragnar veteran, took the baton and did the pre-race ceremonial slap on the wrist on our first runner, Erica. Ready to go!
We had a little bit of time before the race started so we made our way back to the van so that Erica could make her last second preparations, and also so we could decorate the van a bit. Last year we didn’t decorate the van until we were ready to leave exchange 12. Til then, we were the lamest van on the course. This year we were get a head start on that. Javier brought window markers and we decked the van up “REAL GOOD”. We drew Foam Finger We’re Number 1s all over, and added a few Pull My Finger references, from the innocent to the crude (Pull It Harder, That’s What She Said, etc.). We left no doubt about who we were on the windows of the van! Once we were finished with the decorating we moseyed on over to the start line to get ready to start, arriving there before any of the other teams leaving with us. That worked well because it gave us a chance to take plenty of pics, both with and without foam fingers, only van 1 runners, then all the early risers together. We started taking note of all the teams that began joining us at the start line. They weren’t as “fun-looking” as last year’s teams. Their get-ups were not as original. Sure there were a couple of men in skirts here, and a guy dressed as Flash there, but overall, not much going on. (One of the dudes dressed in a skirt was actually decked out in William Wallace getup… FREEDOM!!!!) We began sharing our start line stories with our newbies, getting a couple of laughs in, remembering how they couldn’t pronounce our name properly (It seems that Gringos can’t properly pronounce El Corre Corre, much less understand what it means). It was just then that fate stepped in… our van 2 teammates from last year walk up to the start line. What are the odds?!?!
Our teammates knew the story of last year, and how important it was for us all to gel. We were reminded why we chose new teammates when we saw them this year. They seemed as distant as they seemed the year before. There appeared to be no warmth for the teammates they ran with just 12 months earlier. Roly had his take on this: ”They’re dicks.” Roly is never at a loss for words, is he? It was then that we decided that we had two goals this year. Have a blast, and beat our ex-teammates! The first thing was going to be easy. The second? Well, we can have goals right? Even if one includes beating a team with a guy who ran a marathon in 3:20.
This year’s teams, as I mentioned were not as interesting as last year’s. At least not the ones starting with us. There still were some interesting names, though. These included: Ludicrous Speed, Team Honey Badgers, Moist Muffins and Stale Buns (I liked that one), Tight Butts and Sweaty Nuts (OK , so there were some good ones), Ragin’ Armadillos, Deep Dish and Cheese Curds, and Beer, Oh My! (whatever), The Jager Bombers, Hell’s Belles, Race Officials-Do Not Pass, Unicorn Cowboys, and some other lame names I’ll not waste print on. I liked our “We’re Number 1… Pull My Finger”, personally. And the foam fingers were definitely an instant hit. All runner 1′s set up, and Erica stood foam finger raised in the air. The gun went off, and the finger took off running! The race was under way!!
We watched Erica run for a bit and then headed back to van 1. We knew we had some time because unlike last year when the first leg was a mere 3 miles, the first leg this year was nearly 6 miles. So we took our time and discussed how we, the van 2′ers were going to make their way to exchange 6 for the first major exchange. Then we got in our vans, and the trek was on…
From here on out, my blogs will detail what happened during each of the legs. I will start the next one accounting what happened during legs 1-6, as van 2 prepared to begin the road to OUR start. Realize that though we were much more of a team than last year, I still wasn’t in van 1, and cannot give an account of what happened with them. You will read about my story, with a few run-ins with our van 1 counterparts. If all goes well, though, I will be able to get those accounts to you in due time. For the time being, though, enjoy the story of Ragnar PULL MY FINGER, van 2. (To Be Continued…)