A new year meant a new challenge for four Annandale friends. On Jan. 4, the four 2004 Annandale High School graduates set out to run in the Ragnar Relays from Miami, Fla., to the Florida Keys. Erin Walberg, Natalie Naaktgeboren, Jill Starke and Janel Ludenia teamed up with eight other runners, named the team "I got the runs!"and ran the overnight 196.9 mile running relay race.
A team is made up of six to 12 individuals and each person runs three legs of the race. Legs of the race vary in difficulty and distance, from three to eight miles. For the four Annandale women, the relay started at 8 a.m. Friday and did not end until 6 p.m. Sunday.
Night runs
The most unusual thing about the Ragnar Relays is that they run all night. "I wound up with the longest run of the group, 11.8 miles, which happened to be my night run. I was terrified at first, as there weren’t any street lights, so it was me, oncoming traffic, and whatever creatures you would find in the everglades," said Natalie Naaktgeboren.
Naaktgeboren thinks she probably sprinted her first six miles and "kept thinking I’d run into an alligator at any moment."
Jill Starke had her longest run, 8.1 miles, also during the night. The team traveled with two vans, which provided support, meeting the runners at various points with water and encouragement.
"I did not have van support during my run, so I was totally on my own. My run was over several causeways so I did encounter a few people fishing and nearly ran over a man sleeping on the sidewalk," Starke said.
"Despite it being at night and January, it was still incredibly hot, so I only allowed myself small sips of Gatorade to make sure I had something to drink throughout the leg," Starke added.
Erin Walberg ended up running during the hours the sun was up, but she volunteered to drive one of the vans during the night runs. "We were going past where we knew Natalie would be doing her long run and all we could think of was ‘poor Nat.’ It was pitch black, Nat was running on the opposite side of traffic, the runners were sparse, and she had no van support," Walberg said.
After the race they drove by some of Natalie’s night run, when they could see it in the daylight. "Needless to say I know why they put Natalie’s run at night and on the opposite side of the road: there were signs everywhere saying ‘Crocodile Crossing,’ added Walberg.
Supplies
"Being this was our first time and we had to fly down to Florida, our van made a very necessary Target run the first day of the race," said Starke.
"We bought reflective vests, headlamps, LED lights and flash lights for the night runs. Sleeping bags, blow up mattresses, blankets, pillows, snacks, water, Gatorade, towels, baby wipes and hand sanitizer," added Naaktgeboren.
"I brought my running gear and myself. I was not prepared at all," Walberg said. The van that Naaktgeboren was in, had it pretty good; that van had people from Florida in it, and they brought sleeping bags and air mattresses. "My van used towels as blankets which were also used to wipe down our sweat!" Walberg said.
Walberg gets lost
Each runner had a different terrain, some ran on gravel roads, fields, bridges and of course through the Everglades.
Naaktgeboren’s first run was in Miami, right in the heart of the city, so she had sidewalks and traffic lights to deal with. "My second run was on the main highway that takes you to the Keys, so I ran on the shoulder of the road and part of it was a bridge over the water," Naaktgeboren recalled. She enjoyed her third run the best, it was over bridges and main roads.
Starke’s first run was through a residential neighborhood in Miami. "My second run was more difficult because the sidewalks did not have street lights and I nearly tripped several times on tree roots," Starke remembered.
Walberg’s first leg was also in Miami and the signs reading "Caution Crocodiles in Area" made her very nervous. As she got further into her route, she was running on a gravel path and vehicles were not allowed to follow.
"Directions were not always clear at some points, and I went the wrong way on the gravel path. Running about half a mile out of the way until I hear yelling saying I was going the wrong way," Walberg said. The heat index that day was over 90 degrees, but Walberg turned around found her way to the right path.
Most memorable moment
The foursome has a lot of good memories, but some stand out more than others."For me it was finishing. Going into it, I said I was going to do this for the experience and to check off my bucket list. Now I can’t wait to do another one," said Starke.
"On one of the night runs we pulled over to wait for one of our runners to give her water, and sat there for a half an hour. Every runner that came by we would be like ‘Alyssa? Alyssa is that you?’ She ended up calling us and asked where we were? She started laughing and let us know she was three miles ahead of where we were!" Walberg recalled.
"They had a big party at the end of the race, all 11 of us sat there waiting for our 12th runner to come by, once she got there we all crossed the finish line together!" added Walberg
Naaktgeboren said, "It’s hard to narrow down, but several of our runners got lost on their run! The signage for turns, etc. on each run were very minimal, so it was easy to miss a sign for a turn. Also, pretty funny, one of our teammates was a Florida State University runner and he beat our van to the next exchange on two of his runs he was that fast!"
All are runners
Starke, Naaktgeboren, Walberg and Ludenia are all experienced runners.
Naaktgeboren has run four half marathons and some 5K races for fun. he works for Kohl’s Corporate Headquarters in Milwaukee. She is in product development specializing in men’s athletic apparel. Naaktgeboren graduated from the University of Wisconsin, Stout.
Starke has run 10 mile races and many 5Ks. She works for Target as a product manager in merchandising, currently managing all girls woven bottoms and denim. Starke went to Auburn University. She lives in the Twin Cities with her two dogs.
Walberg has run a half marathon and many 5Ks. She has signed up for a half marathon this spring. Walberg also works at Target headquarters as a Senior Campus specialist in talent acquisition-human resources. Walberg graduated from St. Cloud State University and is engaged to be married in August. She lives in the Twin Cities.
Ludenia lives in Salt Lake City and works as a traveling occupational therapist, moving every few months. Ludenia graduated from the University of North Dakota, is single and has two dogs.
■ The 2013 Ragnar Relay Great River race will happen in Minnesota Aug. 16-17. Starting in the river town of Winona, runners will encounter challenging terrain and beautiful scenery as they run "up river" along the Mississippi, ending in Minneapolis.
According to Naaktgeboren the cost, not including their airfare down to Florida was about $200 per person, including the entry fee, food, drinks, gas and van rental.