Ragnar Relay Series

The Ragnar Relay Series is a series of long distance running relay races. With 15 races in the United States and Canada, the Ragnar Relay Series is the largest relay series in the world. The first Ragnar Relay was the 196 mile Wasatch Back run in 2003, with 18 teams competing.

Format

Each Ragnar Relay is approximately 200 miles (320 kilometers) in distance, with races lasting 2 days and 1 night. There are two types of teams: traditional and ultra. A traditional team is made up of 12 runners while the Ultra team has 6 runners. Each runner on a traditional team is responsible for running 3 legs of the race with each leg ranging between 3-11 miles ^[1] The total distance a runner has ranges from 9-21 miles, making it a good fit for participants with varying skill levels. An ultra runner will run a total of 6 legs and can choose to run each leg separately or run two consecutive legs.

Each team is given a slap bracelet that serves as their baton through the race. When exchanging runners, the runner finishing a leg of the race slaps the bracelet onto the wrist of the next runner, who then continues the relay. On a traditional team, the 12 runners are divided between two vans and only one van will be active at any given time. Once all of the runners from Van #1 have completed their legs, the slap bracelet is handed to the first runner of Van #2. While Van #2 is active, Van #1 is allowed time to rest (and vice versa).

Starting

The start times for the teams are staggered in 15-minute increments, depending upon the pace of the runners on the team. Each team estimates their finishing time by averaging the 10K pace of all runners on the team. All teams must average a 12-minute mile or faster in order to finish within the time frame allowed. Slower teams will start earlier than faster teams, though later-starting (and faster) teams will commonly catch up to and pass earlier-starting teams during the race. This ensures that all teams will finish within a few hours of each other.

Race legs

Race legs vary in distance, with most legs being between 3 and 8 miles in length. However, some legs can be as short as 2 miles, or as long as 13.5 miles. Individual runners may have all shorter legs, all longer legs, or they may have a mix of the two.

Teams

Teams are permitted to be anywhere from 4-12 people in size. While most Ragnar teams consist of 12 runners, many teams choose to race with 6 runners.

Normal teams

Teams consisting of 7-12 people are considered "Normal" teams. Most Normal teams consist of 12 people.

When running with a 12-person team, runners are changed at each of the 35 exchange points in the race (start and finish line non-inclusive). The order of the runners is maintained throughout the race, with Runner 1 followed by Runner 2, followed by Runner 3, etc.

12-person teams are divided into two separate vans, with each van responsible for 6 consecutive legs of the race. Runners 1-6 are in Van 1, while Runners 7-12 are in Van 2.

Teams of 7-11 runners are still considered to be Normal teams. However, special rules apply when assigning the race legs for a team that has fewer than 12 runners.

Ultra teams

Teams consisting of 6 or fewer people are called "Ultra" teams. Most Ultra teams consist of 6 people.

Each runner on an Ultra team is responsible for running 3 legs, each of which consist of two or more consecutive race legs. For example, on a 6-person Ultra team, Runner 1 will run race legs 1 and 2, Runner 2 will run race legs 3 and 4, Runner 3 will run race legs 5 and 6, etc.

Special rules apply when assigning the race legs for an Ultra team that has fewer than 6 runners.

Races

Currently, there are 15 different races in the Ragnar Relay Series:

References

http://www.ragnarrelay.com/ragnar

• http://www.visitphoenix.com/events/event-results/event-details/index.aspx?eventSourceId=19865
• http://beta.active.com/running/Articles/Inside-the-Ragnar-Relay