Completing My Holy Grail Race: Ragnar Road Bourbon Chase

It really does seem like all I talk about anymore is Ragnar.. but Ragnar = running and I've been talking about running for YEARS so it's really not all that out of the ordinary.  But really this post is a different kind of accomplishment post, but it does pertain to Ragnar, so here we are again.

Last weekend, I completed my HOLY GRAIL of ALL RACES I've ever wanted to run: The Bourbon Chase (BC).  BC was the initial Ragnar race that I discovered all those years ago and knew that I didn't know the people to actually run the race.  But since 2016, it's been a bookmark/favorite on my computer so I could visit the page and wistfully stare into space thinking of how awesome it would be to do THAT race.  Years.  Half a decade + 1 year.  That's 9 Mercury Retrogrades.  That's 1/3 of the way to being an "adult" (if "adult" is 18).  A looong time, that's what I'm saying.

I posted about it, but in 2021, I completed Ragnar Sunset NoVA with Teh Clique (originally supposed to be Oct 2020 (pre Clique existence), but Covid).  Exactly one year later, I completed Bourbon Chase.  Not only did I participate in the race, but I also completed the "Ragnar Leg" which is the most difficult leg of the entire race.  That part was not originally planned, but due to an injury, someone wanted to switch and I agreed.

There's a satisfaction of coming full circle.  From first time doing something to achieving an actual life goal within a year and on the same date.  Sunset NoVA was the first step to achieving that goal and I didn't know it at the time.  I knew that I'd be able to say I ran a Ragnar, even if it wasn't the race I truly wanted to do, which is still an accomplishment.  But now I'm 8 Ragnar races into a crazy journey that has taught me many lessons (some of which have been more painful than others) and brought some fantastic people into my life and helped Teh Bestie and I continue our runcation traditions (although now we runcation with more people involving a lot less showering).

I'd be remiss to not acknowledge the people who made it possible.
-Teh German for encouraging me to do the crazy things and making sure the dogs were cared for. I tried to make sure that, the weekends I was away, the weather was great for motorcycle riding.  I felt this was a fair trade off, even if beyond my control.
-Teh Bestie who listened to me talk about this race for literal years and stepped into the Ragnar life with me without (too much) hesitation.  To date, there's no race that I've not, eventually, been able to talk her into. But I just want to put it out there that the 25k trail race we are doing later this month was ALL HER IDEA. ENTIRELY.
-My running tribe.  Without yall, I'd be doing these races with ALL strangers or not at all.  I'm glad you're along for this ride.  #AlwaysAnAdventure
-Rangar "Strangers".  Without these strangers, some of whom are definitely no longer strangers, but actual friends now, my teams would have been incomplete.  I thank you for dealing with me at my best and worst (sleepy, smelly, exhausted) states.
-To all the others who've endured me talking about these crazy races I'm doing and listening to me whine about how torn up my body is, sometimes I just gotta get it out.  I appreciate your sacrifices. 

Oct 2, 2021 then Oct 2, 2022.