For the n00bs - A Ragnar Basics Primer
The inner workings of a team, suggestions of what to do and what NOT to do from my experience so far
Disclaimer: I am not a hardcore, long time Ragnar veteran, but I have just finished my fourth Ragnar (I have friends who have done more than three times that in one year), and I have a strong background in logistics. I want to lay out some basics of what Ragnar is, from the runners' viewpoint, to include some helpful hints, etc... This will hopefully be some good, useful information for people looking at doing their first Ragnar, or maybe improving their overall experience.Ragnar Basic Overview:
What is a Ragnar? It is an approximately 200 mile long road relay race. A standard team is no more than 12 individuals separated into two vehicles (referred to as "Vans" as the standard is a 15 passenger white van for most events). An Ultra team is no more than 6 individuals in one vehicle. This review will cover a standard team (as that is all that I have run and captained so far).The Captain - The Big Kahuna, the Man (or woman) in Charge
The Team Captain is usually the person who registers the team with Ragnar and sends invites out to the team members so they can officially join the team on the Ragnar Relay page. The Team Captain is more than anything an organizer. It is really on them to fill the team, make sure that some type of order is maintained, and that all the logistics are handled. This includes paying one lump sum to Ragnar for the entry fee (though this can frequently be done by another team member who has the ability to put together the lump sum, delegation is one of the big tools in a captain's bag), organizing transportation for the team during the race, determining what each member owes for the race.The amount each person ends up owing usually consists of the Team Race Fee, any vehicle rental fees (rental and insurance), any gas for the rental vehicles, possibly hotel rooms for before and after the race if the team all gets together in one place, possibly the recovery food/drinks for the vans, and possibly team uniforms (t-shirts, underwear, costumes, etc...) as long as it was agreed to by the whole team (if one person decides to go out and do it without the whole team agreeing that it should be done, they can't really expect the whole team to pay for it. GET APPROVAL FROM THE TEAM FIRST).
What should NOT be included into what each team member owes is cost of getting TO Ragnar (each team member is responsible for at least getting to the general city/region to where the team can pick them up and they can go from there). Whether team members fly in, drive in, take a boat, a train, or walk, it is up to the individuals to pay for that out of pocket (specifically it is not included in the team overall cost). Any incidentals affecting individual team members (i.e., child care so a team member can run, hotel room that a team member or members gets on their own for their own personal or small group use, meals purchased during the race, etc...)
Okay, back to the Captain. Their job is not specifically to DO all the work of getting the team ready to run the Ragnar, but to make sure all the work is getting DONE. DO vs. DONE, and the key word is DELEGATION. You don't have to tackle it all yourself. More likely than not, you will have at least one or two people on a team that have run one of these before, or at least are pretty good with logistics. Get them to help out with the planning and organizing of pieces of it. Just make sure you are keeping up to date with the basics of what they are doing, and make sure they are getting things done. This both helps involve team members and helps them take ownership of the team. It is a win-win situation for all involved.
Some examples: If your team wants to do team shirts, the Captain doesn't HAVE to be the one to design the shirts, find a printer, order the shirts, collect payment, and hand them out. This all needs to be done, but it can be handed off to a number of people or one other person the team, depending on the talents and abilities. The Captain's job should be to first get a consensus from the team that yes, they want to do this, handle any possible objections (if someone says they can't afford the shirt as well, you can't really tell them "too bad, you have to buy it anyway." You need to work something out first before moving forward), and then delegate out the creation, purchasing, money collection, and distribution of the team shirts. This doesn't mean the captain HAS to (say if the Captain is rather artistic, or knows of a printer, or is good with distribution and wants to handle part or all of it), it just is one more thing that the Captain doesn't have to feel is solely their responsibility.
Lastly, the Captain doesn't have to be the most knowledgeable person about Ragnars on the team, but the Captain SHOULD know their stuff when it comes to rules and regulations, important dates and times, and other race specifics. You don't have to memorize the course, but you should have at least looked at the overall and all the leg maps, have an idea if there is a position that is going to have a LOT of miles, and one that is going to have only a few, what safety equipment is required at check-in on the day of the race, what city and state is the race in, where does it start, where does it end, the things like that. The Captain should also know their team, know who they can ask about something they don't know, and to whom they can or can't delegate tasks.
The "Vans" - How Does That Work?
Runners 1-6 are in Van 1, runners 7-12 are in Van 2. One van is always in support of the runner on the course, either by stopping and cheering them on, delivering water or other drinks and sustenance during their run, or where not allowed to stop and support, making sure to honk and make noise as they pass their runner on the way to the next exchange. The van in support alternates from major exchange to major exchange. These are exchanges 6, 12, 18, 24, and 32 (the Start line and Finish line are listed on the Ragnar site as major exchanges, but there really is no exchanging going on there). At the major exchanges, the last runner in one van (runner 6 or runner 12) will pass off to the first runner in another van (runner 7 or runner 1, respectively). From that point, the van that WAS in support is now free to go get food, go sleep, go shower (if available), find the next major exchange, resupply, get gas, etc... This does take some planning as to what to do in what order.Upon getting your last runner back, and coming off support, a van now has to decide "what next?" Eventually, they will need to get to the next major exchange so that when the van that now is in support gets there, they can hand off again. This won't happen for at least a few hours, and you can usually use the Pace Calculator from the Ragnar site to give you an idea of how long that will be (NOTE: this is why it is VERY important for team members to be HONEST when putting their 6k mile times on the Ragnar site as it can make a huge difference in accurate estimates and keeping both vans on track). These are my recommendations of the order to take care of things (in specific order as I would suggest you do them once your van is no longer in support). Note that not all of these things need to be done EVERY time the van is no longer in support. It all depends on what the van is needing at the time, this is just a suggestion to help prioritize the ones you need:
- Find the next major exchange! This is always my priority because the last thing you want to be doing is having the van in support telling you they are only half an hour out and THEN try to find the exchange. Find it while you are not under a huge time crunch, make sure you know where it is, and then proceed with whatever else you need to get done.
- Get food! If you are hungry, you need to get food in you, do this as soon as you can after coming off support (and finding the next exchange) as possible so you have plenty of time to digest a meal before your next run. This also gives you a little bit more time so you don't feel so rushed eating. Usually, for Van 1 this is done after your first set of legs, and for Van 2, is done while Van 1 is running their first set of legs and then again when Van 1 is running their last set of legs. You might notice Van 1 in that scenario only really stops to have a sit-down meal once. Yup, that is pretty much right. . . . Though not a hard and fast rule, it usually works out that way.
- Resupply! If you need more water, more recovery snacks, batteries, chap stick, new running clothes, duct tape, sun screen, whatever, now is the time to do it. If you are going to eat, you have taken care of that and can be digesting while getting anything else you might need. This is also a good time to refuel the vans if they need it (depending on what your "vans" are, they might need more or less refueling throughout the event).
- Sleep! Like with eating, you might not need to do this EVERY time. Usually for Van 1, it is after the second set of legs, and after their final set of legs, and Van 2 it is after their first set of legs, and after their second set of legs. Depending on how much running the other van is going to be doing, this might be a couple of hours, or a good chunk of time. I would recommend planning your down times so that you have one for a meal, and another for sleep, so you can focus a larger block of time to each where necessary. Plan for sleep though, always plan for sleep. Have a sleeping bag, blankets, a pillow, basically something to keep you warm (because I haven't been to a Ragnar yet where it was warm at night, and I think the Keys and SoCal are the only ones that might be), and you can rest your head on. It will make a WORLD of difference. I have had Ragnars where I lent someone else my sleeping bag. I did NOT sleep well. I was NOT a happy captain. Plan for sleep, make sure your team members plan for sleep. Get cat naps where you can, but plan for sleep at the major exchanges as well.
- Showers and Miscellaneous other stuff. Yes, showers fall under miscellaneous and not really necessary. While it isn't a requirement or expectation that you will always be uncomfortable on a Ragnar, it is almost an unwritten rule that everyone will pretty much be getting funky by the end of the event (try putting four people and all their gear in a hotel room the night after the Ragnar is over. I pity the fool who has to clean that room up after they leave cause the funk don't leave with the gear all the times). Baby wipes are your friends, use real bathrooms when you get a chance, wash your hands with soap and running water whenever you get a chance, but I have taken a grand total of 1 shower during my four Ragnars. Before and after, sure, but during, that sucks up time that you could be eating, sleeping, or resupplying and those three things are vastly more important than smelling pretty. Oh, browsing around at the major exchanges if they have sponsors or vendors there kind of falls under this too. It is really the least important thing to do because they will usually all be at the finish line as well. It is fine to do that, and even encouraged (the sponsors do a lot for this thing called Ragnar, definitely check them out), but just remember that your focus is taking care of yourself and getting yourself ready for your next leg.
Useful Team Aids
There are a number of things that are not necessary, not required, but VERY helpful for a team to have. I am just going to run over these really quick, give a little information on each, and go from there. It will depend on the team, their skill level, their overall requirements, etc... as to whether these things will truly be useful or not, but here we go:- Team / Van Binders - These are a binder per van that contain the following information (at a minimum recommended):
- Team phone list (everyone's phone number, whether they can receive text messages, etc... though there are some great apps to help with this too like GroupMe)
- Team Pace Estimation Spreadsheet - I believe the Captain can download this from the team page. It gives the estimated Start Time of the team, how long (time-wise) each leg is expected to take, based on the team members' average 6k mile time, and the perceived distance of the legs (you will notice the mileage on that spreadsheet will usually always differ from the mileage on the leg maps. It is the difference between perceived and actual)
- Ragnar Bible - This will come in the Rag Mag as well, but nice to have it separately in here as well. Sometimes it is just easier to use.
- All the Leg maps, divided by Van (Van 1 Legs 1-6, Van 2 Legs 7-12, Van 1 Legs 13-18, etc...). Yes, they might change, so this is usually something I recommend NOT printing off until the week before the race, just to make sure you get the most recent maps from the website (as they will usually be more recent than what makes the Rag Mag). They are both useful to have in a binder form (lot easier for the navigator to use than the Rag Mag, and no adds to sift through), and can be used to compare to what is in the Rag Mag to see what might have changed since they were sent to the printers. It also allows you to keep the Rag Mag a bit more pristine in case anyone wants it as a collectible item.
- GOOD Van Decorating materials. This is not an add, but might I recommend Crayola? They have been doing art supplies for a LONG time, and they come off VERY easy with Baby wipes (which is another suggestion. Buy them, use them LOVE them, for Baby wipes do everything from remove van decorations to give you a quick and simple cleaning solution when a shower just isn't doable). Whether you get Crayola or something else, definitely take the time to decorate the van. It is fun, it gets the team working together and bonding, and it lets each van personalize their own van to their tastes. Some suggestions for decorations:
- Team Name
- Team Members Names
- Check Boxes for Legs done (Persons Name: [ ] [ ] [ ]) to keep track of how many legs you have completed so far.
- Space for tracking Road Kills (Road Kill, def: When a runner passes another runner during a Ragnar, the passed runner is counted as a "road kill" as they have just been run over by someone else. There are differing methods of determining exact totals based on whether you pass the same person multiple times, whether you get passed as well, etc... Just make sure the whole team is on the same page with how you are counting and IF you are counting).
- Witty sayings or slogans based on your team name
- Team Transportation. I wanted to put a blurb here on this as well. We discussed Vans already, but I wanted to hit on this again to address a different part of this. The Ragnar regulation on what the vans can and cannot be is somewhat limited. It does give a MAXIMUM size limit, but no real MINIMUM size limit. It does state that an Ultra team only has one and a Standard team only has two, but outside of that, there is a lot of room for interpretation. I have seem teams use 15 passenger vans, big Dodge Sprinter vans (VERY roomy, but VERY expensive too), mini vans, conversion vans, pickups, SUVs, cargo vans, station wagons, pretty much anything else Ragnar will let them use. What do MOST other teams use? White, 15 passenger vans. Easily 9 in 10 vehicles used for teams for Ragnars are a 15 passenger van from a rental company. They provide plenty of room for gear, sleeping, everyone gets their own space, no cramping, etc... I have done ONE Ragnar in a 7 passenger minivan. They estimate 7 passengers without gear or anything else, now through duffels and gear, as well as a cooler, and now make sure they are all sweaty and been up for way too long... Not the best or most enjoyable Ragnar in memory. Whatever you do, when thinking about what to use for transportation, consider these things:
- You are going to have not only 6 people in the van, but all their gear for the day and a half of running they are going to be doing. That can be a change of clothes for each leg, clothes to wear in between for going into civilized places like restaurants and stores, costumes, recovery aids (rollers, Kinesiology tape, scissors, ibuprofen, etc...), toiletries, coolers for recovery snacks and drinks, recovery snacks and drinks outside the cooler, etc...
- While supporting, at least ONE of those people is going to have just finished their leg and probably be pretty hot and sweaty. A rental van seat gets sweated on, no big deal, they will shampoo it when it gets returned. Your personal car seat gets sweated on... a bit more work to take care of.
- Sleeping: Yes, a lot of the major exchanges will usually have sleeping areas, but I have been to at least one Ragnar where after the event starting, the location of a major exchange came to the Ragnar staff and changed their mind, decided they did NOT want to allow a bunch of tired runners to pass out on their lawns. At that point you have very few options. If you can find somewhere else you can bail out of your ride and sleep, great, but if not, you might have to sleep in your ride. Minivans packed with 6 runners do NOT make the best sleeping environments, and you REALLY want to try getting sleep when you can.
- Power considerations - everyone has phones, MP3 players, book readers, tablets, headlamps, wireless earphones, watches, and a variety of other things they need to recharge. Does your personal vehicle have both enough juice and enough outlets to handle this? First, an inverter is a great thing to have for each van, though that is more of a personal thing, not a team thing, but second, the more power outlets you have in a ride, the better!
