Ragnar Running for the Raging Radicals

That time of the year has come again, the time when people lose hold of their senses and pay money to run up mountains in the middle of the night--for two nights in a row.  I've lost two family members to the madness--or three--if you count extended family.  It's a dangerous time to live in this neck of the woods if you're a fitness enthusiast.  You just might find yourself swept up in the mania, and before you know it you're running all day, crashing from exhaustion at midnight, and then waking up at 2 a.m. to run again.  These people are nuts!

Here's how it all played out...

First, Rebekah decorated the two vans (with a little help from Alicia):
 

Then the team all got together to ride in the decorated cars:

Then they took turns running.  Here they are watching for Alicia:

And here she comes...

They had to put a speed limit sign up just to keep her under control:

 (Actually, what they really needed was a "No Littering" sign so she wouldn't get distracted by all the garbage she wanted to pick up.)

Here she is seeing her fans and smiling:

The hand-off to Rebekah:

Here Rebekah is saying, "What are these creepy people doing?  Why are they slowing down and taking my picture?"

Here it's more like, "Okay, I know you people.  I'll play along and wave."

And here she's like, "Hey, wanna see my relay dance?"

And here she's just awesome:

 Speaking of awesome:  since Rebekah is beautiful, artistic, and sporty, Alicia asked if she could take cool lessons from her.  Rebekah came back with, "Well you could.  But they're kind of expensive."  Wow, she really is cool.

Here's a shot I grabbed of the moon while waiting for Andrew to come out of the runners' port-a-potty:

I had to walk a few feet out of the car to get it and that was enough exercise for me.  This all day and night running thing is just for the crazies!

Here's a little video about a non-runner trying to understand the delights of a two-day relay race (it's a little more vulgar and angry than I like to be, but it's pretty funny):

Rachel and Megan volunteered at a race checkpoint and they came back late and acting goofy.  (Watching miserable people exercise can do that to you.)  Aren't they adorable?