Bourbon Chase 2018

Takin' Care of Boubon:  The Running Elvi Ladies take on Bourbon Chase 2018

Bourbon Chase 2018 was my first RAGNAR event.  I am by no means an expert, but I am going to do a bit of a breakdown of the race and logistics as I have had several people reach out to me about doing the race in the future.  Here is what we did- and what I would do different in the future.  So, continue reading here if you want a few tips.  If you want to know how I did/feel/do it again?  Skip to the end.

The Logistics:

ROAD TRIP!

• Travel:  This was a tough one for Dave and I as we had to drive from New Orleans to Memphis so Isla could stay with her grandparents (6 hours)- then on to Lexington to drop off cars and pick up vans (6 hours) then to Louisville to the start (1 hr).  AND....put that in reverse to get home.  Keep in mind with Ragnar it is a point to point event, so you need your cars at the END of the race.  
• Suggestions:  pick a Ragnar that is close to you!  Travel time and costs really add up.  You may have to take days off of work plus all of the money you spend in gas/travel food.   If money is a limiter, make sure you don't pick a RAGNAR that costs a lot just to get there.  

• Vans:  You will need 2 big passenger vans, unless you have a smaller number of runners taking more legs and you can get away with some smaller vans.  Basically, you will rent your vans from an area closest to the FINISH. 
• Suggestions:  Use coupon codes with a car rental agency if possibly and absolutely book ahead of time.  If you want to save money, drive the vans IMMEDIATELY to turn in after the race and you will save hundreds of dollars by not keeping the vans an extra day.  This takes some real planning and motivation when everyone is tired.  
• DECORATING:  This will take longer than you expect.  Try to give yourself some extra time, if possible.  (We missed the pre-race party because we didn't give ourselves enough time the night before the race to take care of details.) Not all teams decorate their vans, but you will be happy you did.  

• Buy washable window markers (inexpensive), and have fun add the following:  Racer's names or nicknames, KILLS (a slash mark next to each runner's name, marking the number of runners from other teams they pass when running), and any fun sayings.  
• Lights!  Find some battery powered Christmas type lights and hang them up on the inside of the van.  Better yet, find a way to secure some on the outside of your van as well!  This was not expensive and really made the vans look great, especially at night.
• Photos:  We did not do this, but we saw some great vans that had pictures of all of their runners (think Fat Heads) on the windows.  This is a cute and CHEAP idea as you can print off pictures at home. 
• Other:  there are certainly many other props you can put on your car, as long as they do not jeopardize safety.  The key here is to keep it cheap- no need to spend a ton of money on this.  Just be creative!

• Drivers:  Bring 2 non- racing people to drive.  You could do it with just one, but let me tell you our guys were so happy to have each other.  One would drive and one would navigate.  It made a huge difference.  (Just good luck getting your husband to do this once you tell him there is no Bourbon till the end, and that basically he will just be driving us around and won't be able to sleep).  

• Hotels:  you will need rooms near the start for the night before the race as well as at the end of the race.  This is definitely a cost that will add up.  
• Suggestions:  Can you find an air B and B?   Does anyone have hotel points that they would be willing to use to cut down the costs (thank you to Laura Gilmour for doing this for us!!!)?  Can you share rooms to save some money?  

• Costumes:  Most teams do not run in costumes, but of course WE DID!  This is optional, of course, but we don't like to do the bare minimum now do we?  

• Suggestions:  Wear a costume.  This is about having fun, so get out of your comfort zone and make it FUN!  
• Have a part of your costume that really flashes.  It will help you see your runner when they are coming into transition.  Our sparkle skirts were PERFECT for this, and we really stood out on the course.
• Make it easy to run in....that way when you yell at everyone to wear their costume the whole time they are more likely to do it. :) 
• Make things!  I was up the night before we left for the race sewing Elvis scarves.  Not everything has to cost a lot of money.  Get your key pieces and work around it.
• Drivers in costume?  Yes, please.  Our Elvis drivers were the best, and Dave even got a spirit award.  (up until that time he complained the whole time about wearing the costume).  

• Magnets:  You will want magnets (business card size or slightly bigger) to pass out to other teams and stick on their vans.  The funnier or more identifiable the better.  

• Suggestions:  We ordered 200 and that was a good number (about $50 with Vistaprint).  200-300 should be just right.  Save one for each of your teammates!  

• Food:  I really have no advice on this.  I don't even remember what I ate!  We had so much random food on the bus.  I remember eating some random candy that was handed to me and that is about it.  Otherwise, when our leg had a break from running, we found a good restaurant in the nearest town and chowed down.  
• Suggestions:  Have some bagels/banana/peanut butter in the van ready to go for the start of the race.  I ran the very first leg and didn't have a thing for breakfast simply because we didn't plan.  

• Sleep:  YIKES!  You won't, unless you can sleep anywhere.  What we did:  we slept in the middle of a Walmart parking lot for 2 hours- all 8 of us in a van.  It was terrible, but memorable as I think everyone was snoring, farting, and moving around.  You really learn who your sleepers and non-sleepers are.  
• Suggestions:  forgo sleep and make sure you cheer everyone runner from your van in and out like I did, and just try to nap at least once.  
• Another team said they book a hotel room in the middle of the course (planned out by the legs and relay exchanges) and VAN 1 will use it to sleep 2-3 hours and clean up followed by VAN 2 for 2-3 hours.  You will still be sleeping on a floor in your sleeping bag, but it is much better than in a van in a parking lot.  This tip is optional, but worth exploring.  I would probably just not sleep again and save the money.  

• Running Gear:  you must have reflective vests and lights for running.  
• Suggestions:  Wear the brightest vests and lights you have.  There were many stretches of the race that were in the middle of the night with poor visibility and irritated drivers that were cutting it close to the runners.  We saw one guy with Christmas lights all on his reflective vest, and while normally it would be overkill, for some reason it actually seemed like a good idea with this race.  

• Cheer.  Seriously.  Get out of the van every damn time you have a runner coming in and leaving transition and cheer them on.  Cheer them on in the rain, the cold, the middle of the night.  Why else are you there?  You would think I don't need to say this, but my team was the VERY BEST at this- over and over at transitions.  We had a full on cheering squad all hours of the day and night.   
• 
  Rain...
  
  Shine...
  
  Night...
  
  or Cold.  Better be out there cheering!
  
  
  
  And DONE!
  
  
  And at the end, stay an extra day to unwind, go on some Bourbon tasting tours, and love on your friends.  
  
  
  
  
  

NOW..... the nitty gritty.

Did I have fun?   Yes

Would I do it again?  Maybe.

What would hold me back?  Cost.  You know that I keep track of everything financial, and this race cost us (because we had to pay the share for two people) almost $1200 when all was said and done.  (and it could have been more if we didn't do a few things that shaved off a few hundred bucks a person.  Thank you, Michelle, for doing everything possible to make this affordable!) That is a lot of money for me to run 15 miles.

AND- planning a trip with all of these details for 16 people is really, really hard.  And I wasn't even the one that did it.  Michelle planned it all- we could not have done this without her.  So, be very, very prepared to spend a lot of time setting this race up for your team. (If you have done it before it may come easier the second time...maybe).

How much did you run?  yes, 15 miles total.  Not a lot.  I ran some of the slowest miles of my running life.  I kept a grateful attitude regardless.

What was the best part of it?  Being with my friends.  I have just some of the very best friends from Memphis.  I miss them.  I love them.

What else?  I love relays.  I love teams.  I really enjoyed this different format.  I think there are two ways you can do this type of race.  One, you can do as we did and put in a very easy time goal with low pressure, and just enjoy running with friends.  Or secondly, you can RACE it, which I think wold be very, very fun to do.

Dave?  Had fun, kind of.  It sucked to have to stay awake that whole time and drive in the dark, while navigating around 470+ teams.  Thank gosh he had Darren.  He said he would not drive this again.  But, I bet if the weather had been better and the travel less on us, he would do it again.

I may add to this post as I remember things that belong on this page, just in case it helps a future Bourbon Chase runner.

xo