Running is a lonely sport, so they say. For the most part, it is. Most runs are accomplished alone. Maybe some tunes accompany and if you’re really lucky maybe you have a group for one long run a week. However, by and large, running is not a group effort, it’s a solitary activity. Thankfully, that sad truth about the sport I love so dearly has been challenged.

As of late the hot trend in running is relay races. I had the fantastic opportunity to join a team and run my first long distance relay race recently. I quickly learned why this is a growing trend in the sport. Running should be a team sport, always.

Relay races are happening all over the country. Some are hundreds of miles and take multiple days. Others are much shorter and can be accomplished in a day. I participated in one of the oldest relay races around last month – The Brew to Brew Relay. It is one of the most talked about running events in the state of Kansas. The nearly 44-mile race is appropriately named as it begins at the Boulevard Brewing Company in Kansas City, Missouri and traverses the countryside to The Free State Brewery in Lawrence, Kansas.
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If you’re a runner, you know that there is quite a hype over relay racing as of late. If you’re not a runner, you’re probably going to want to start after you learn what fun people are having with all the great relay events across the nation. One event in particular is really grabbing the attention of all types of runners. Elites and newbies alike are flocking to the Ragnar series of relay races.

Ragnar relay races are 200 mile overnight relay races completed by a team of 6-12 runners. The first Ragnar was hosted in Utah in 2004 with 280 participants. This year there are 15 events scheduled nationwide with more than 76,000 runners participating. Clearly, this race has something special if it keeps growing and selling out every year.

The races take their names from a ninth century Norse Viking named Ragnar. The founders, Dan Hill and Tanner Bell, named the races Ragnar due to the viking’s adventure-seeking and conquering personality. They simply state, “run one of our races, and you’ll understand.”
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