Friends run from Chattanooga to Nashville in epic 189-mile race

A team of six runners from Dubois County made its way through the State of Tennessee in a grueling 189-mile road race called the Ragnar this past weekend.

The six took turns running from Chattanooga to Nashville over 27 hours. By comparison, the trip to Nashville from Huntingburg is about 10 miles shorter than the 189-mile race.

Each runner would end up completing at least a marathon with some adding a couple of 5Ks by the time they were done.

The team formed last December when twin sisters, Allison Menke and Andrea Tooley, decided to enter the race this spring. They two were involved with a Ragnar team last October; Allison as a runner and Andrea as a volunteer van driver.

The two pulled in their longtime friends, Erin Rauscher and Philip Huddleston, as their first choices to begin to fill out a team.

The four 35-year-old friends all work at OFS Brands and decided to recruit Alice Brescher, the youngest of the team at 26, who is the company’s fitness instructor.

The five then started listing potential people to fill the sixth slot. Ultimately, the final decision didn’t hinge on whether the person was the greatest athlete.

“I asked Alice who was on the list and as soon as she said Chad (Wilkey), we said ‘yeah, we’ll ask Chad,'” Allison explained.

Chad at 46 is the oldest person on the team and with only a couple of 5Ks under his belt, he also has the least amount of consecutive miles ran. For the rest of them, the decision hinged on personality. “It really came down to finding people you want to spend that much time in a van with,” Allison said.

“And, someone who could run,” Philip added.

“That is kind of a secondary requirement,” Allison laughed.

Over the course of the Ragnar, when they aren’t running, the team members will spend the time in the support van driving along the route to the different check-in points. For this team, that meant over 27 straight hours were spent in the van together.

Filling in as the team’s support were Jyl Blessinger and Andrea Ecret. Both would be taking turns at the wheel of the van as well as providing water, snacks and medical attention to the runners. They also documented the run on Facebook here.

The team’s name, Ultra Drinkers with a Ragnar Problem.

So what is a Ragnar?

Sponsored by Reebok, a Ragnar is a long distance relay involving a team (usually of 12) that will run nearly 200 miles for a night and two days. The race routes go through some of the most picturesque scenery in the world.

For those seeking a little more of a challenge like the team from Dubois County, rather than splitting the running between 12 teammates, it is split between six. These teams are called Ultra teams.

Why choose the Ultra?

“Because we can,” Andrea laughed.

The team felt they were fit enough to complete it.

“It is a nice mental challenge more than anything,” Erin added.

Allison noted how during the race she participated in last year, the Ultra teams were admired by the rest of the regular teams. At the exchanges for the 12-person teams, Ultra runners would continue through, causing some confusion until someone would explain the difference.

For Ultra Drinkers with a Ragnar Problem, the Ultra was the only way to go.

“I mean, I saw the 12-person teams last year and just thought ‘anyone can do that,'” Andrea said.

Taking on the Ultra version of the race has garnered some comments from friends and family members.

“I can’t tell you how many times people have asked me why I am doing this to my body,” Alice said about training for the run. “But it felt so good while I was training and was able to accomplish my goals.”

Chad agreed. As the oldest member with the least amount of experience, the transformation he experienced since starting to train in December was interesting. “It’s amazing how much my body has changed physically to be able to run [long distances],” he said.

The race

On Friday morning, Andrea began the first leg of the race at 9 a.m. “Allison came over to try to pump me up and I said ‘you have to go away, I need to be alone,'” she said about the nervous moments leading up to 9.6-mile run.

Despite the shared nervousness, the team members supported each other and ended up doing great for their first time. Of the 10 Ultra teams involved in the race, Ultra Drinkers with a Ragnar Problem came in second-.

For their category as a coed team, they came in first.

But the excellent completion came with it’s toll. Besides the general delirium by the lack of sleep compounded by the miles of ground-pounding, Philip, who served in the Marine Corps, ended up “shredding” the muscles in his legs on his second leg of the race. The team chose him for that particular portion of the race because of the power needed to take on the race’s longest ascent.

According to the team, he hammered the ascent but coming down the mountain took him out of the race. As his legs failed on him, the camaraderie of the race was evident in the passing runners who stopped to help but he waved them on. By the end of the leg, with each cursed step, Philip knew he was done. “I hurt pretty much everything,” he explained.

Most of the run went well, though. Alice took time as she was running to shoot some pictures of the grand old homes she saw along part of the route.

During the night, Erin thought Warren Zevon’s classic song “Werewolves of London” was playing but the howling she heard came from a pack of dogs in an area she was running through.

Among the other runners, besides some nipple chaffing and a bad experience eating a Big Mac in the middle of the race (“I know about how long it takes one to move through you,” Chad said. “It takes about three hours.”) the team came away with little more than confusion and exhaustion.

In testament to the exhaustion-induced delirium, Allison was finishing the final leg of the race heading into Nashville when she saw some people in yellow shirts cheering her on. Without realizing it, she was approaching the finish line. “I thought ‘Oh, that’s a cool shirt. I wonder what that guy’s doing?’ and (not realizing it was her team) I nearly ran into Jyl,” she laughed.

At the end of the race, the confused and delirious runners even had a hard time talking. Andrea noting Philip’s hobbling at the end, attempted to explain he needed someone to give him piggyback. “I kept telling him ‘you need to get a backpack,'” Andrea mimicked by mouthing the words slowly and exaggerated. “You know, a backpack.”

Completing the race was a big boost to the runners confidence. “I remember thinking that if I can do this, I can do anything,” Erin said.

“We did it,” Alice said.

“It was definitely the coolest thing I have ever done,” Chad added.

For the record:

Andrea ran the longest when Philip’s final leg was split between the remaining five. She conquered 37 miles with a weighted average pace of 8:40 per mile. Erin did 32.9 miles with an average pace of 9:12 per mile. Alice ran 30.40 miles at a 9:34 pace. Chad had a blazing pace of 7:59 per mile and completed 29.70 miles. Philip averaged 9:32 per mile for 27.50 miles.

They started running at 9 a.m. Friday and finished at about 1:04 p.m. Saturday.