Category Archives: Ragnar

Ragnar Done!!

Stillwater Lift Bridge at Dawn #ragnar - Saturday

What a fun experience!! I’m going to be posting more about Ragnar as time permits, but it was an experience of a lifetime! I’m definitely sore and tired but it was a great adventure.   We finished in just under 30 hours for the 193 mile journey!

I ran 3 legs.  At 12:03pm on Friday I ran 5.3 miles in about 47 minutes.  Mostly flat, but lots of humidity and near 85.  At 11:19pm I ran 5.25 miles in 45 minutes on a dark and hillier road, still humid but cooler.  And at 8:08am I ran almost 3.4 miles in 28 minutes on a trail next to the road on an overcast and humid morning.

Those three runs plus an easy 3 miler in Ohio earlier in the week equaled my highest mileage week of the fall for 17 miles of running!!

There is still time to support my efforts to raise money for Team World Vision’s Clean Water projects in Kenya.

Like I said, it was a lot of fun and I’ll do a longer post later!  I’m still tired and catching up on sleep and eating!! Plus I go back to work this week part-time and then full-time next week.

A hard choice for One Post so here are three:

Product Review of the Strassburg Sock, a Book Review of Once a Runner, and an idea about Twitter Tagging.

Running for Clean Water

World Vision Volunteer
Image by crossn81 via Flickr

I’ve decided to join with Team World Vision again, to help change lives in Africa. I am running the Ragnar Relay from Winona, MN to Minneapolis. I along with 11 others will complete the 193 mile journey along the Mississippi River. This is very appropriate since this year money raised through Team World Vision will support clean water projects in Africa. Will you sponsor me?

I am raising money to help dig wells and provide clean water in places like Kenya. When a community gains access to clean water, here’s what happens:

> The infant mortality rate is cut in half
> Children can attend school instead of walking up to 6 miles for water each day
> Women can spend time learning a trade to support their family instead of collecting water
> Overall health is improved with clean water and sanitation
> Crops and livestock thrive with clean water and proper irrigation

The problem of poverty can seem overwhelming. But I believe there is something we can do. Whether you can give $10 or $1000, no amount is too small. Together we can help change lives in Africa.

Thanks for your support.

Please take a second to visit this link.

http://twv.convio.net/goto/crossrunstheriver

Thanks again,

Nick

PS. Team World Vision is part of World Vision, a Christian humanitarian organization. Your donation is tax-deductible, and you can learn more about the organization on their website: http://www.teamworldvision.org.

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Very Crazy Idea – I need YOUR Help

Dear friend who may or may not occasionally run,

I decided to do something a little crazy, especially since I’ve been suffering from Plantar Fasciitis and my knee randomly swelled up on me recently.

I signed up a team for the Ragnar Relay – Great River edition. On August 20 and 21 this race goes from Winona, WI to Minneapolis, MN and traverses 193 miles in the process. With 12 people running out of 2 vans the average distance any one runner runs is 16.1 miles. Over three runs and two days that isn’t too scary of an idea. Throw in the fun of running together and 15 passenger vans and it is a piece of cake.

I signed up for four reasons, 1 – we saved a good chunk of money on registration fees 2 – I got two free Ragnar headlamps, which will come in handy during the night-time legs of the race 3 – Ragnar posts a fairly easy training plan that starts April 9 and 4 – children are still dying for lack of healthy water.

To make the race even more exciting I and (ideally) the whole team will be raising money for Team World Vision. All money raised this year for Team World Vision will support water projects in Kenya and other African countries. World Vision is an amazing organization and I’m sure you’ve heard of it, if you haven’t I’ll direct you to this series that I wrote on my blog. My goal is to raise $2,000 again this year, which averages out to about $10.37 per mile of the relay.

So what I need from you is two things. First, I need you to e-mail and say that you are excited to join Team Run the River for Africa. I actually have to add you to the team on Ragnar’s site, we’ll then make arrangements for you to get me your $85 registration fee and a signed waiver. Secondly, assuming you want to help support water projects in Kenya you’ll need to visit Team World Vision’s site and signup under our team.  (This isn’t a requirement but I’d like the entire team to be wearing Team World Vision jerseys.)

What do you think? Are you up to the challenge? I’m sure you are! We’ll iron out more of the logistical details over the next few months.

I’m pretty excited about this and look forward to running with you.

Nick

PS. As if that wasn’t crazy enough, Team World Vision is hosting a 13.1 mile race in Minneapolis on August 22. This is one of their big national events and a portion of all proceeds goes towards their water programs. Additionally, there will be a ton of World Vision focused stuff going on with hopefully 1,000’s of runners sporting TWV Orange. When I first came up with this idea, I was planning on doing the relay and finishing with the 13.1 mile event on Sunday. I’m taking a more cautious wait & see approach on that right now, but if you do it, I’ll probably do it too! If you were a little bit of a chicken and wanted to only commit to running the 13.1 that’s fine too, I suppose. You can still join my Team World Vision team!

PPS. Ragnar Relay rules require us to provide 3 volunteers to help throughout the weekend at aid stations, etc. We may also enjoy having additional drivers and nighttime bike riders/pacers. So let me know if your interested in that too!

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