Articles
9 February 2012

Ragnar Relay Beyond the Finish Line

by Sarah Ryther Francom

09 February 2012—

 

Your heart is racing, your legs are shaking, you wonder if you’ll make it to the end of your five-mile running stretch. You hear your 11 teammates cheering in the background—you are, after all, in this race together. After approximately 24 hours of running a collective 170 miles, your team crosses the finish line. Together you have accomplished the ultimate running experience—Ragnar Relay.  

 

The First Step

The Ragnar Relay Series (initially dubbed Wasatch Back Relay) started as many ventures do: with an entrepreneurial dream. Steve Hill long envisioned an all-day, all-night relay race that stretched across Utah’s one-of-a-kind Wasatch Front. But it was Dan Hill, Steve’s son, who adopted the dream and ran with it. Dan Hill, along with his childhood friend Tanner Bell, launched the first Ragnar race in 2004. Though only 22 teams (which included 262 individuals) participated in the relay race, the event was immediately a hit. “It’s a format that people just can’t get enough of,” says Hill. 

By 2006, Ragnar Relay grew to 12 races across the United States, covering 42 percent of the market share. Today, more than 25,000 individuals participate in the race annually and Ragnar has grown to be the nation’s third largest endurance sports series. 

Hill says what’s unique about Ragnar is it takes a solo sport—running—and turns it into a social experience. “A lot of people love to run, but when you’re racing, you’re alone—you’re by yourself,” he says. “We’ve introduced a team element, which has resonated for people.”

Though the company has experienced extraordinary growth, that growth has come with challenges. “Tanner and I constantly joke that every 12 months it’s like we’re working for a different company,” says Hill. “Any company that’s constantly trying to improve and trying to grow fast has challenges. I think we’re doing so good because everyone really loves what they do. People are willing to tolerate the chaos and dig in more than they otherwise would at another job—we all put our whole hearts into [Ragnar].”

Bell agrees: “Participants run Ragnar to experience an adventure, work with a team to accomplish something they never could have accomplished on their own, and to push themselves beyond their limits,” he says. “My motivations are the same. At Ragnar, each day brings a new challenge and adventure. I work with an amazing team to build the nation’s premier series of relay adventures, and most importantly, Ragnar consistently pushes me beyond the limits of what I think I am capable.”

 

All About the Team 

If you think spending eight hours a day, five days a week with your colleagues is more than enough time to get to know one another, imagine riding in a van, side-by-side for approximately 24 hours—the only solo time you have is when your feet are on the pavement, running one of your allotted stretches. 

But according to Marit Fischer, Backcountry.com’s communications manager, participating in Ragnar is the ultimate team-building experience. “Think about it,” says Fischer, who runs in one of Backcountry.com’s four relay teams. “You’ve got a van full of co-workers almost literally stuck together for 24-plus hours while you each and collectively make your way as fast as you can to the finish line. You can’t not bond.”

Fischer adds that Ragnar gives employees who normally don’t work together the opportunity to interact. “It’s a great way to take, for example, a marketing manager, a designer, a shipper, a customer service rep and an IT guy—who may not otherwise interact at work—and say, ‘OK, you’re a team. Go!’ By the end of the 24 hours, you’ve not only closed communication gaps between departments, you’ve built some lasting friendships while you’re at it.”

Bob Smith, who participates on Winder Farms’ Manimals relay team, says that participants are able to take the team-building lessons learned from Ragnar back to the workplace. “Nobody wants to let down the team. Even though we all run at different levels, everyone wants to do their best. In the work setting, it is the same. Some team members are stronger than others, yet it still takes everyone doing their personal best to succeed.”

Beyond promoting teamwork, Hill says participating in Ragnar creates a real sense of friendship and camaraderie among participants. “Every participant works to make sure they’re taking care of their teammates. They get water for them, cheer for them and they all feel each other’s pain. It really takes away barriers.”

“You will never learn in a motivational seminar or workshop what you can learn by running in the Ragnar,” adds Smith. “We work together as a team, have a great time and build memories together. It is a very effective way to help your company reach a new level of performance.”

 

The End Result  

What do companies get when participating in Ragnar? A healthier, happier and more productive workforce. 

“We’ve heard that companies that participate in Ragnar see that it helps them with physical, mental and social health at work,” says Hill. “Our event brings together physical training, learning to eat right, learning to exercise right. For a company to bring together a dozen or so people to get healthy together, it really helps build productivity and creates happy employees.” 

Smith has seen firsthand the health benefits participating in Ragnar can create for a company. “As a group, we lost a few hundred pounds getting ready for the race,” he says. “We began to eat much healthier; it has created a lasting culture of being healthy. Everyone likes the positive effect the race had on our bodies and our body image. We are all working to keep it going.”

Fischer agrees that participating in the event has helped establish a healthy workplace, but he says what’s better is the healthy company culture the event helped establish. “A healthy work environment, to us, is less about being in good shape or being physically healthy than it is about open communication, strategic forward motion, and courageous thinking,” he says. “The race and all that it entails are a good mini-cosm of the workplace environment. Every time we participate, we get a fresh reminder of how we do what we do well.”

Reaching the finish line is all about working together and having fun, says Smith. “After 24 hours in a small vehicle, you realize nobody is perfect but we all can rally together and have great time doing it … [Ragnar] creates a memory of a lifetime.”   

 


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