Ragnar!

Ragnar!  By far, my favorite event that Jodi participates in.  I absolutely love it...I love the excitement, I love his team of guys, I love the comradery, I love volunteering, I love the gear and I love cheering on my man.  This is Jodi's 2nd Ragnar Relay.  Last year, he ran on an 8-man team.  This year, they went for an Ultra team meaning they only had 6 runners.  Each runner ran around 32 miles a piece.  Wowza!

Here's Jodi's team, THE PUSHUP GUYS, at the start...in Madison, WI.  They look so fresh and happy.

Rick-Tim-Jodi-Matt-Matt-Dave

I'm not sure where the mustaches came from...

While the boys were starting the relay, I was at home corralling our crew to their various morning activities.  I made sure to wear my race crew t-shirt from last year.  And I was so happy to not be stretching it over my belly this year.  

Jodi's team is called THE PUSHUP GUYS for a reason.  They do pushups at every exchange.  In total, they did 555 pushups this year.  Jodi couldn't even pick up Logan tonight.

Every guy is in charge of a portion of the 'supplies'...here's Jodi's bin of fuel he bought for all the guys.

At 3:30pm, my friend Gretchen and I started our volunteer shift at exchange 13, Sunset Park.  This is our 2nd year doing this and we LOVE it.  We've got it down to a science and we love working this exchange.  Last year, we were both pregnant and it was 90 degrees.  This year, we're both not pregnant  (we think) and we actually got cold towards the end of our shift.  

Working the exchange and saying hi to our favorites, team 12.

After our shift, we checked on our kiddos (mine via phone, G's in person) and then we went on a mission...to visit our men of course!  It was Gretchen & Matt's 10 year wedding anniversary so it was extra special for her to get to give Matt a few more hugs and kisses as the night went on.

Surprising Jodi at one of the exchanges at 9:30pm.

Watching the boys do pushups in the dark.

Surprising Jodi again after he ran a double leg at 11:00pm.

 Gretchen and I said good-bye around 11:15pm and headed home to get some sleep.  Here's Jodi 'resting his eyes' in their van.

And here's the most amazing team of guys at the finish line in Chicago!

First ultra team to cross the finish line...what an amazing feat!  These guys are so mentally tough.  They endured 30 hours of being awake, pushing their bodies to run 32 miles a piece on hardly any food and with some uncomfortable circumstances to say the least.  They trained hard for this and supported each other in so many ways.  They are all amazing and heroes to all their children and wives.

Here's Jodi sporting his much deserved medal.

Congratulations babe - I love you so.much.