It Runs in the Family

Five years ago, my sister-in-law Megan had a goal for the Stowell family: run the 197-mile, 12-man relay race in Oregon called Hood-to-Coast.

The runners in the family hit the pavement again. Others began training for the first time.

The race was painful — and powerful.

Come 2010, Megan found a new relay race for us to take on: the Southern California Ragnar, another 200-mile, 12-man relay race, this time from Ventura to Dana Point.

We ran it in April, coming in at a respectable 35 hours, putting us in 238th place.

Running three, 3- to 9-mile legs in a day-and-a-half is one of the most grueling experiences you can put your body through. Functioning on little sleep and a lot of adrenaline while surviving off a diet of vitamin drinks, energy supplements and carbs can do strange things to your body — physically and mentally.

You will likely not see your teammates at their finest hour (popping massive blisters with their bib number safety pin, groggily snapping at anyone in the a.m. hours, fishing their wallet out of a port-a-potty — true story). But you’ll also see them at their best (triumphantly completing a hard run, cheering you on when they’re too exhausted to talk, bonding over an inside joke).

Come June, I’ll tackle my next Ragnar — the Utah Wasatch Back. This time with my aunt and cousin. And I’ve got my dad, brother and sister running the 2011 Wasatch Back with me.

My family’s either crazy or inspiring for running these relays. And I can’t think of a better group of people to run with.