In October, I met up with 11 girl friends from Philadelphia for a weekend of fun, running the Las Vegas Ragnar Relay. It will definitely go down as one of the best girls trips ever!
We all met and became good friends during our time living in Philadelphia, but we've all since moved away and are now spread out across the country. Back in the spring of this year, Jamie had the idea of reuniting friends and after lots of e-mailing and working out details- our team was born. I felt pretty cool for coming up with our team name- the *Red Hot Philly Peppers.*
Fast forward a few months of training and getting ready, and we all met up in Vegas to run a 188-mile, 2-day relay race!
I flew in Wednesday night along with a few others. Thursday morning and afternoon those of us in town did some sightseeing around the area. It was fun to see the cool things in the various hotels and stores.
We were a little bummed the fountain show at the Bellagio wasn't working, the funny thing was it took us about 35 minutes to realize it. It was so fun to visit with each other that it didn't really matter what we were doing.
Stacey, Cathie, Jamie, Kim, Annette, Me
We stopped for lunch at Serendipity. I wasn't too hungry since I'd had a bigger breakfast, (and their food prices certainly didn't help either!) but Annette and I did end up splitting a frozen hot chocolate. It was pretty good, not amazing, but fun to say I've tried one.
We stopped to see some other fun stores along the strip. People picked up some fun, some hilarious souvenirs, and we stopped to take pictures along the way. I thought my boys would particularly enjoy this one with Bumblebee.
Thursday afternoon we picked up our vans and Megan from the airport. Then we headed over to meet up with the rest of our group and have dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. What a fun reunion that was!
The whole group- minus Kristen who was still driving. Our team had 12 members, but we also had some other friends who weren't running meet up with us for the weekend.
After dinner we headed to our hotel. We took care of business that night, passing out costume supplies, distributing van decorations, and of course swapping money. I think I ended up with about 25 one dollar bills. That was fun.
Being in Van #1, we had to be up early to be to the starting line by 7am. I don't think anyone slept real well that night, we were all a little nervous and a little excited! It was fun driving to the starting line- we were blasting the music and ready to go!
It was pretty cool to see that big orange Ragnar arch with the sun coming up behind. The next one we'd be running under would be the finish line, and that would't be for about 34 hours.
Kristen was our first runner. After the gun went off, we screamed like crazy for her and then took off to do some cheering along the route. We also stopped for funny things along the way. "Peppermint" was our "thinking of you" bear for our family members. Bet you wish you were here with us in this desert!
I was runner #3 and getting anxious to get running! My first run was 5.3 miles. It was starting to get warm by the time I ran and there were some decent hills, but overall it was a really beautiful run.
I took my water pack with me on every single run and was grateful I had it! The temps in Vegas that weekend were in the upper 80's and I definitely wasn't used to that hot, dry heat. The first run went well- I kept just over an 8 minute pace and ended up with 12 kills (passes).
Our first run was about the only one most of us did during the daylight hours- and so most of our pictures were taken during the first leg as well. It was so fun to drive by, stop, and cheer on our girls!
Van 1 consisted of: #1-Kristen, #2-Annette, #3-Me, #4-MaryAnn, #5-Stacey, and #6-Calli.
Van 2 consisted of- #7-Megan, #8-Kim, #9-Alyssa, #10-Jamie, #11-Holly, and #12-Jordan.
I was so impressed with how well everyone did. Everyone worked so hard and did so well!
During our van's first segment, Van #2 caught up with us for a bit before they headed on their way to the first major exchange point to wait for us.
I ended up being in charge of van decorations and decided to cut out a bunch of vinyl decals that could easily be attached (and removed). Kim got a logo designed for the team & had big ones made up for the van as well. We thought our vans were the best looking ones of the bunch! And it sure made it easy to spot our vans- which was nice considering there were over 400 teams and 800 vehicles.
And yes, we think Philly girls are Red Hot!
Sporting our sweet RHPP stickers and tattoos. The stickers came off great- the tattoos, not so much. And I ended up with a tan line in the exact outline of my little running pepper. Guess I'll be keeping that one for a while! :)
At the first major exchange point, Calli handed off to Megan and Van #1 was officially done with our first leg. We had a little bit of time to hang with our other team members before they headed off to do their first leg, and we headed off to enjoy a break and some lunch.
We went right to the next major exchange that happened to be at the Lake Loews Hotel where Jeff and I had stayed a few years before. We were pretty excited to see that pool! It was awesome to sit there and relax. That is, until the pool nazis came around and told us the pool was for use by hotel residents only...bummer. We did enjoy a good 45 minutes though.
We tried to get some sleep while we were there. We went from the van, to the grass, to the designated sleeping area, but we were starting to feel nervous about starting leg 2, and it was too hard not to talk and laugh. No one got any sleep, but it was nice to have a little relax time.
We did have a funny incident while we were there. During the process of changing and getting our sleeping gear out, we thought the keys had been locked in the car. Annette & Kristen went back to the van and sure enough Annette could see the sun shining off them in the cup holder. The back window had been left open, but she couldn't get her arm up and through until a couple guys from another team came over to help. They pulled the window open just a little further while Annette reached in with pliers- giving herself some pretty impressive battle wounds in the process- and was finally able to open the car. Funny thing is- the glistening metal ended up being an aluminum milk top, and the keys ended up being under a blanket. She didn't tell the guys- we let them think they were heroes.
I had been over on the blanket trying to sleep, and decided I should come over to see if I could do anything. I grabbed some sticks thinking maybe I could reach in to push the 'unlock' button, but when I came running over and said, "I have sticks!" Annette and I both looked at each other and then just bust up laughing because it sounded so funny. Good times. We were just very happy we found the keys!
Van #2 finished their first leg soon after and we were off again! Of course we found plenty of ways to entertain ourselves while we waited for runners to finish. There was a lot of handing off of the bracelet from one runner to another when you finished your run- we laughed how people couldn't wait to get rid of it!
We had to be in night gear from 5:30pm to 7:15am. Those vests and especially head lamps were pretty annoying, but it was kind of exhilarating to run in the dark!
My second run was a 5.4 steady uphill run through some residential areas. The craziest part was being chased by a dang chihuahua for about a quarter of a mile at the start! It wasn't labeled real well and I ended up getting lost for a little while. Luckily my van saved me and it ended up fine. I think this was my least favorite run because it seemed to last forever. I kept about 8:20 pace and passed 13 people. I was happy to be done!
We were all pretty happy to meet up with Van #1 at the next exchange and be done with our 2nd legs. We made some sandwiches and headed to Kristen's grandparents home where we tried to take some power naps. We only ended up having a few hours between the time we finished our 2nd leg and the time we would start our 3rd, but we were just glad to get about 2 hours of good solid sleep. This is the hour when the craziness started to come out! (Calli thinking she'd lost a toenail :)
I admit, when that alarm went off about 1am, I was not feeling grateful to wake up. I was the first runner to go again and I was tired and not feeling fabulous. I tried to snooze in the van as long as possible- I had just barely made it to the exchange spot when we heard that Jordan was there. I had to hurry and rip off all my layers- although it was hot during the day, at night it was COLD!-take the bracelet from Jordan and go.
I had been dreading the 3rd run. I had already run twice, and it started at 2am, but it was also an 830 ft climb over the 6.9 miles. What I didn't realize is that it was also on a very rocky, hazardous, sandy dirt trail that was sloped and incredibly hard to run on. It would have been bad enough during the day- doing it the dark was nearly impossible. I ran as fast as I could physically go- which ended up being in the high 8's- and still almost fell a dozen times. The good part? I kept running the entire way and passed 25 people, that brought my total kills/passes to 50! I did get passed by the one and only guy who passed me the whole time though. Oh well.
I was overjoyed to see the sun start to rise in the sky over the mountains. It was one of the most beautiful sights ever.
It was such a great feeling to be done! I felt invincible!
It was so fun to cheer on the rest of the girls during their last legs. They all did amazing, and I was so proud! Of course, it was still pretty dang cold that morning, and we had to huddle together to keep warm. (And you see all those rocks directly behind us? That's what the ground on my 3rd run looked like...bad)
Victory!
This is where things really started to get fun, and more crazy...
*Crazy speedo-clad dancing men, *chugging chocolate milk, *memorable Emergency Pit-Stops
*Blasting our soundtrack songs, "Stereo Hearts" and others will always make me think of Ragnar- and possibly cry a tear or two...
*Superstar poses
*Loving us some "One Mile to Go" signs
At the end of our 3rd legs our van looked pretty fierce with all our kills.
We totally got spoiled with our connections- at the end of our run, we headed to Calli's parents for some swimming, lunch, showers, and relaxation. We felt a little guilty knowing that Van #2 was still out running in the hot sun, but we were feeling mighty happy to be where we were!
We headed to the finish line about 3pm that afternoon, met up with the other girls, and waited for Jordan our #12 runner to finish. When she came running down the final stretch, we all joined her in running across the finish line & under the Ragnar arch which was having some minor issues at the moment.
Hooray! Such a great feeling!
Showing off our awesome medals
It was such a great feeling! We had a fun afternoon taking pictures by the Ragnar gear, enjoying lunch at the park, and basking in the feeling of accomplishment. Our team ended up finishing in 11th place out of the women's teams.
That night we headed back to Angie's where we all enjoyed more food, more visiting, and fun. It seriously felt like we were all back in Philadelphia again enjoying our monthly girl's night.It was a blast, and sad to see the time come to an end. We said goodbye to some women that night and the rest of us headed to our hotel. Sunday morning a few more left early. Jamie, Annette and I went to church and then they dropped me off at the airport too.
It was hard to believe it was really over. We'd all been looking forward to Ragnar for months, and all of a sudden it was over. I've missed these girls a ton. (And many other Philly girls who didn't run Ragnar-we could have made a few teams if everyone had been able to come!) Over the years in Philly we shared good times, hard times, tears and laughter. These girls were my closest friends and my family away from family. I'm so glad we were able to get together- as short as it was. I'll be excited for our next reunion, and hopefully the return of the Red Hot Philly Peppers!
Annette, MaryAnn, Kristen, Calli, Alyssa, Jamie, Me, Kim, Megan, Staci, Jordan, Holly
*Red Hot Philly Peppers*
We actually had a really laid back Halloween season this year. Our ward didn't have party this year, and the kids didn't wear costumes to school. We were busy enough with other things, that it worked out just fine and Halloween was a blast!
The kids were so excited to go trick-or-treating Monday night. Originally I thought that we would all go together until Emily had had enough, then she and I would go back to hand out candy, but we ended up staying out the whole night. We met up with our friends the Bassetts and trick-or-treated around our neighborhood.
I originally thought we'd go out for a little while, then Emily would be tired or cold and we would go back to hand out candy. Little did I know, this little girl would be running strong till the end! Emily was so funny to watch. She caught on very quickly what trick-or-treating was all about. She wanted to run by herself with the big kids and kept an iron grip on her little basket the whole night. She was a trooper. 
I originally thought we'd go out for a little while, then Emily would be tired or cold and we would go back to hand out candy. Little did I know, this little girl would be running strong till the end! Emily was so funny to watch. She caught on very quickly what trick-or-treating was all about. She wanted to run by herself with the big kids and kept an iron grip on her little basket the whole night. She was a trooper. 
