With 200 miles of legwork behind them, the team of “Rockin’ the Ultra” poses for a picture at the Ragnar Relay finish wall. Each person ran between 30 to 38 miles in the relay that ran from Madison to Chicago. The women are, l-r: Megan Nielsen, Jeanne Monson, Jennifer Spry, Sasha Narayan, Pamela Erickson, and Carrie Wilson.
Three local women competed on a relay team of six women in the 4th annual overnight Ragnar Relay that ran from Madison, Wisconsin to Chicago, Illinois from June 12 to June 13, a distance of almost 200 miles.
Jeanne Monson, Jennifer Spry and Kari Wilson joined with three of Wilson’s friends. “We all got along really well,” said Monson.
Each person ran six relay legs, and covered between 30 to 38 miles.
Although it was a lot of fun, it wasn’t always smooth sailing, said Monson.
“It rained for part of the relay and one of our runners missed a turn and ran some extra distance. We also lost time on some of our hand-offs because we would have to stop and make sure where to go. You could run for miles and not see another runner. But no one got discouraged. We had some things happen that could have caused trouble on our team, but no one let that happen,” Monson said.
Ragnar Relays are held throughout the country and often are used to raise funds for a charity. Funds raised from this relay were dedicated to the Chicago Area Runner’s Association. The relays are named after Ragnar Lobdbrok (or Lothbrok) a legendary 9th century Norse ruler who was noted for his fearlessness and his free spirit.
The Ragnar Relay series grew from a single relay in Utah in 2004 to becoming the largest overnight relay series in the nation.
“It’s the most miles I have ever run in that short of time,” Monson said. “When all was said and done, it was really a great experience.”
When asked if the group plans to run again next year, Monson replied, “Yes, we decided we want to go back and try to beat our time. It took some convincing to get one of our partners to make a return trip, but in the end we convinced her, so we will go back and give it another try.”
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