The JUGS (Just Us Girls) take on Vegas and the Ragnar

I recently returned from a fabulous weekend of running, driving, not sleeping, cheering, laughing, and eating. And it was all done crammed in a van with 5 other girls. This kind of craziness can be summed up in one word, Ragnar. This particular Ragnar Relay went from Valley of Fire to Las Vegas. The other half of our team started the adventure at Valley of Fire and we took over at Lake Mead. After arriving in Vegas on Thursday we met up with our entire team at a house boat in Lake Mead were we slept for the night and hung out until Van #1 completed their first runs. Unfortunately they ended up being short a runner at the last minute due to flight troubles. So we all pitched in and helped out with their last runner's legs. We had such a fun team. My friend who works at icon put together the team with ICON as our corportate sponsor. So I have to give a big Thank you to ICON for allowing us the experience.

The Team:

I love these girls. It was so fun to spend time with new friends and old ones.

Danette is one of my oldest and dearest friends. I love her like a sister. With life being as crazy as it is I don't get to spend nearly enough time with her. She has been an important person in my life. I loved reliving fun times from the past and making new memories with her. It's impossible to be around Danette and not feel her passion and enthusiasm for life. She is so inspirational and a wonderful friend. It wasn't always easy to keep supporting our fellow runners when we were exhausted, cold, and knew we still had miles ahead of us, but Danette kept the energy level high and if they had a prize for "most supportive van" I'm sure we would have won. I still have the horse voice to prove it.

I was so excited when Courtney moved into the neighborhood and I discovered that she was a runner. Immediately I snatched her up as my running partner and I have enjoyed getting to know her better. She is so sweet and a great listener. Being a full time mom of two little ones I don't always get enough adult interaction so Courtney gets to listen to me blab about anything and everything as we run. I was so happy that she was able to join our team. Everyone fell in love with her. She was such a trooper in taking over such hard runs. She even maintained her positive attitude on what was quite possibly the hardest run of the entire relay.

Rebecca is a new friend that I liked the moment I met her. She was our "Ragnar Runner" taking on the most difficult and longest combined legs of the race. You should have seen the hill she conquered, the duel she fought with another runner, and the smile on her face as she ran it all beautifully. When I grow up I want to run like her.

Tonya is another new friend that I am so glad I got to meet. The more time I spent with her the more I liked her, which is saying a lot considering the circumstances we were in. She ran like a champion even with an injury and not a word of complaint.

One of the great highlights of the race was watching Chelsie succeed at something she wouldn't have thought possible a few years ago. Chelsie overcame so much to be able to run this race. She worked harder than us all and accomplished something amazing. I was so impressed watching her run her last leg uphill in the heat. It was a challenging run for anyone and it got pretty emotional when her dad, who traveled far to be there and is not a runner, stepped beside her and supported her as she took on the challenge.

And then there is me. I just feel blessed that I was able to be apart of something so incredible with amazing people. It has been a crazy month for me full of ups and downs. At times I wasn't sure I was going to be able to make it to Vegas, but prayers were answered and I was there. It was a pretty big stressor beforehand but I realize now that it was the perfect thing for me to have something to focus on. I had a blast. Thanks girls.