*Editor’s Note: This is an event preview for the inaugural Los Angeles MyoMed Ragnar Relay held April 2009 and refers to the event details and descriptions from that year.
The MyoMed Ragnar Relay Series continues to grow! This new event in California will bring the total number of MyoMed Ragnar Relays around the country to nine. This proven relay formula will be targeting this new region of the country, and the organization and the concept are perfectly suited for California--it is a kind of mobile Hollywood production anyway! Ragnar, the legendary Norse king/adventurer would be exceptionally pleased with the California course. Being a seafaring man, he would approve of the beautiful route along the Pacific, with mountains and cliffs and crashing surf throughout.What a course, what a region, and what a terrific concept--such high adventure packed into 24 hours. There are 36 legs, and runners will delight in their running; additionally, they have the chance to cheer teammates, enjoy great opportunities to meet others from around the country, see California up close as never before, and take up the twin challenges of team logistics and team theme/fun. Sleep? Maybe; but more likely teams will rock out and party when not running, with every transition area a party in itself.
There are now nine MyoMed Ragnar Relays (perhaps soon to be ten?). Stay tuned!
California Dreaming
Santa Barbara, the starting point for this 177-mile rolling party, is one of the most famous and most sought after locales in the country. And it is for good reason--natural beauty. What a place to begin this 24 hour, 36-leg journey and adventure. The Ragnar concept just screamed "California" from the outset: Awards for best team name, best decorated vehicle, live music along the course, and a rocking finish line party at Dana Point, adjacent to famous San Juan Capistrano.All participants receive a great technical shirt, finishing medals, and awards for division winners. But the emphasis is clearly on fun AND competition. And all will have memories to last a lifetime!
Much of the course is along the Pacific Coast Highway, and during the first hours, initial legs, there will be a very beautiful series of views of the Pacific Ocean on the right and the Santa Monica Mountains on the left. The relay moves into the Los Angeles metro area, giving runners and teammates a very different look at "Hollywood" and LA, including a close look at Santa Monica, LAX airport, and El Segundo. Other locations evoke images of surfing and music, including Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, and Redondo Beach. The course works its way around and through Long Beach, and then moves back to the shore to experience Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, and Laguna Beach before entering Dana Point to rock at the finish line.
This will be the inaugural Los Angeles MyoMed Ragnar Relay, but this organization has tons of experience in putting on relays, and believe me when I say they have the details covered. They have planned very well for you. The MyoMed Ragnar Relay Wasatch Back--the original--is now one of nine produced by Ragnar Events, LLC, and is part of the MyoMed Ragnar Relay Series, the largest relay series in the country. They administer nine of the most successful and fastest growing overnight relays in beautiful, but very different, regions.