I haven’t said much about it yet on the blog, but one of the most exciting things so far about 2013 is that the Ragnar Relay series chose me to be a Ragnar Ambassador! I apparently gush so much about the series–how much fun it is, how it will re-invigorate your running, how it will be the MOST AWESOME TIME OF YOUR LIFE– that they want me to do it while wearing and running in cool Ragnar shirts and jackets. 😀
How cute is this hoodie?
I originally applied late last summer but then as time came and went I figured I’d been passed over. I was a little bummed, but oh, well, right? Well I then found out in January that they had just selected their new ‘class’ and I was in! They want me to talk up Ragnar Tennessee! I was jump up and down excited! I received my first box of gear and swag in February, and have been wearing it all over the place (they used some seriously soft fabric for the ambassador shirts and I love how cozy the hoodie is).
Anyway, Ragnar got a booth for last weekend’s Publix Georgia Marathon expo, and asked the local ambassadors to work it, gathering contact information for runners who might be interested in becoming part of the Ragnar Nation. It was a BLAST. A fun and exhausting blast, even for this high-energy extrovert.
Click here to see a short video of us spreading the word!
I worked Saturday afternoon, and by the time I left, Ragnar had the names of hundreds of potential new Ragnarians, and we’d given out a ton of awesome Ragnar swag to the coolest runners at the expo. 😉 Success! I also loved being around all the nervous and excited energy of thousands of runners about to take on the hills of Atlanta for the race (and yet not have to take on the hills myself–further success!). It was so fun to talk about Ragnar to people, to introduce them to the concept or to answer the questions they have about it. One of the most common was “How do I find 11 other runners?” I’ll be addressing that, and some other common questions in a future blog post. (Side note: if you ever work an expo, work the last shift. Vendors will give away tons of free stuff right at closing so they don’t have to pack it up. I walked away with BOXES of PowerCrunch bars, a tube of Nuun, and a full jar of Biscoff spread. Yeah baby.)
</aAlso in the future, the other ambassadors and I will be spreading the Ragnar love at local races and hosting some Ragnar 101 sessions around Atlanta. I’m excited to talk up a race series that I love! Stay tuned for much more!
Lindsay
Oh I just found your blog through Jesica at rUnladylike. I stopped and talked to the peeps at the Ragner booth and had lots of questions. It sounds like such a fun race. I am a slower runner 9:30-10ish, so I wondered if I would have a more difficult time finding others to be on my team (or find a team to be on).
You will not have trouble at all! I’m sure there are competitive teams out there, but most of them are of the ‘the more the merrier’ variety. I’d suggest liking the Facebook page for the race you want to do, you’ll find a lot of teams looking for runners.
I just happened to find your blog after doing a Google search for Ragnar. I am OBSESSED with Ragnar and I’ve yet to run one. I’m also going to have severe depression (sarcasm font) come October when I can run TN because I’m a MORON and signed up for the 4 Bridges Half Marathon ONE.WEEK.BEFORE.RAGNAR. Um, file me under “stupid”. (Don’t get me wrong it will be an awesome race, but not Ragnar. I’d completely bail on the HM except I’m making it a family weekend too. My goal PR HM is Soldiers in Columbus, GA on 11/9 therefore further pushing Ragnar TN to 2014. So anyway, the moral of my comment is, plan 2014 around Ragnar. Maybe I’ll run into you at a expo somewhere. I liked reading that you hopped on a completely random team once too. That’s my goal because my running club (Atlanta Southside Runners) hasn’t bit on forming any Ragnar teams yet.
Oh you’ll love Ragnar! We’ll have booths at packet pickup for the Big Peach Sizzler 10k and the Atlanta 10k/20k relay so stop by and say hi!