And Our Start Time Is....

We have our official start time...and I hope you all like to get up early! Our time is 5:45 a.m. and in case you were wondering, that's in the morning, which means if we're supposed to be there an hour early we'll be leaving here no later than 3:45! That's insane! Are we sure we want to do this? Well there's no turning back now, but us 2nd van people might be rethinking the part where we wanted to send you 1st van people off at the Starting line!

Meet Staci McKinnon

I’m Staci McKinnon and am 29 years old. I’m single and recently bought my first house – which is a fixer upper. Its been quite an adventure and I have loved every bit of it. I’m running the Ragnar in place of Cindy Taylor who had to get knee surgery. I ran the race before a few years ago, and it was a great experience. This time, I know it will be even better because I know tips and things that will help make it so.

I started running about 6 years ago – mainly to get help get rid of the 40 lbs that I had gained while serving a mission. J But then I continued to run because it felt good and relieved stress and anxiety. I have run off and on for those 6 years, most recently I've been on the off cycle, so this race has been great motivation to get me running again.

Meet Melody Owens

Hi, my name is Melody Owens. I am 44 years old and a mother of three.... if you count my husband, Frank, who is my biggest kid! I have a daughter Amanda (19) and son Frankie (16).

I started running and working out again just over a year ago. I weighed the most I ever had in my life and I didn't like how it made me feel! I started running a mile at a time and have slowly worked my way up eight miles. I run because I love it! It hasn't been easy, but it has been worth it! I lost the weight I wanted and feel so much better.

I was thrilled to be asked to run the Ragnar with all of you amazing ladies. I don't know all of you, but know that I will get to know you REAL well, because of this opportunity. I started running again, so I could surprise my younger sister, Barbara, and run with her when we see each other again. We don't see each other very often, because she lives in South Carolina. She runs every day and has completed at least one marathon, that I know of, the New York Marathon. To this day, she does not know that I have been running! I look forward to the day when we will be able to run together.

Running the Ragnar will be a challenge, but I look forward to it. With the support of my Heavenly Father, family and you wonderful ladies, I will be able to accomplish my goal and complete my leg successfully.

We can do it! GO BLISTER SISTERS!

Meet Sheri Mosher

As long as we’re sharing, I have to share too...after all, my mom named me Sheri because I like to “share”! LOL! No one that really knows me very well seems to think that’s exactly true, but I would like it to be!

Anyway, I am 44 years old and am the mom to 5 strapping boys...make that 6 if you count my husband! When I met my husband lots of years ago, he already had 3 of those 5 boys and they were 7, 9 and 12 years old at that time, so needless to say, when I got married I became an instant mom...and that wasn’t an easy task! You would think that having teenagers almost from the start would have scared me from having kids of my own, but it didn’t, so we added two more boys to the mix...and I haven’t regretted it for a minute! Now my boys, Patrick, Chris, Jon, Hayden and Connor are 27 (next week), 23, 21, 8 and 6 years old!

As far as running goes, I used to hate it with a passion and I would have much preferred to ride a bike. Then I had a boyfriend that ran a marathon with little or no training and that gave me the confidence that I could do it too…so I started training and ran my first half marathon! Shortly after that, I got hurt and then right after that I got married and my running soon went out the window...for about 10 years!

About 3 years ago when I quit work to stay home, I officially started running again and although at times I don’t love it, I can honestly say that I love all that I’ve been able to accomplish with it! I have now ran 9 half marathons and 4 marathons and I’m excited to keep expanding my horizons...and running the Ragnar is going to help me do just that!

I’m lucky enough to be the one person on the team that knows everyone that we’re running with and even though I don’t know all of you really well, I do know that you’re all pretty incredible people or we wouldn’t have chosen you to run with us! I’m excited to get to hear more about each one of you and I am thrilled to be a part of our team! After all...Blister Sisters rock!

Meet Kilee Wilson

My name is Kilee Wilson, I am 25 years old. I am the mom to the sweetest little girl, Madison, who is 7 months old. I am married to Cody Wilson, who is the best and supportive husband ever.

I love running, I have been running since Jr High and love it, the main reason I started running was because my sister loves running and I wanted to love it too. I have done 2 half marathons and a lot of little heritage day races.

I love that running makes me feel like I have accomplished something. I live just outside of Tremonton so when I run I am surrounded by fields and I can take in our beautiful surroundings.

I lived in Phoenix for a year and running there was like running in a clothes dryer, lets just say that Phoenix is the armpit of the world, sorry to any of you if you are from there, I liked it, not just the ideal place to run for 9 months of the year. When you wake up at 6 am to go running and it is already 102 degrees, you got a problem.

I am super excited to run ragnar with all of you and to meet those of you I haven't met yet.

Meet Kandice Loosli

Kandice Loosli, Kilee Wilson and Michelle Knight

I am a mom to three kids, Sam, Mai and Beth, and the wife of Spencer--he is the best ever.

I have been running since Junior High, and really consistently for the last 4 years. I have done two half marathons, but mostly I run for the way it makes me feel--and the way it relieves my stress. I am way excited to run the Wasatch Back for my first time this year.

I am running because I like a challenge, and I think it is amazing what our bodies are capable of if we just treat them right. I am also excited to get to know the rest of the team! I love the running community--it seems like such a positive in a world that is increasingly negative!

Go Blister Sisters!

Who runs which leg?

In case you are curious about who runs which leg of the race, here is the breakdown:


Runner # 1 - Staci McKinnon

Runner # 2 - Tina Wilson

Runner # 3 - Melody Owens

Runner # 4 - Michelle Bennett

Runner # 5 - Kandice Loosli

Runner # 6 - Kilee Wilson

Runner # 7 - Kristy Wilson

Runner # 8 - Carmen Harrison

Runner # 9 - Becky Hollist

Runner #10 - Sheri Mosher

Runner # 11 - Brenda Snizek

Runner # 12 - Jodee Rosenlund

Let me know if there have been any changes and I'll fix it.



I loved getting to know Brenda (see the previous post). Send me a quick email about yourself and why you are running the Ragnar so we can get to know each other - if you have a minute.

Meet Brenda Snizek

Hello everyone from your fellow Blister in Montana!


I am Carmen Harrison's sister and am so excited for this race. :) I can think of nothing more fun than doing the two things that I love -- gabbing and laughing all night with sisters and running. No kids to feed, diapers to change, car seats to buckle, and kids to put to bed (although I love all these things too, it's nice to have a break).


Carmen and I are doing legs 8 and 11. As everyone probably knows, she is now taking leg 8 because her foot has been giving her problems and it is the easier of the two legs, and I'm going to do 11. I have been worried about her and am preparing to run her legs with her for moral support (if she needs me...and if I can do it!)

Looking forward to meeting all of you I haven't met yet... Brace yourselves for 24 hours of fun!

Brenda Snizek

Tips/Suggestions

What have you all been hearing about the race?

I understand that only one of us has run the Ragnar before - Staci. But I know that most of us know someone who has run it, or has heard some suggestions about how to run the race.

Staci had a few tips she told us at the last meeting.

She said when she ran it in 2007, her van had wet rags that they had in a cooler with ice, that they would throw on the runners during the really hot stretches (it was 104 degrees). She also said they had spray bottles they would spray each other with.

Leave a comment with some tips you've read or heard.

Welcome Blister Sisters!

Hi Blister Sisters!

I haven't even met all 12 of you but I'm so excited for this race.

My name is Michelle Bennett - and I'm filling in for Michelle Knight. My sister Staci is running the race too - filling in for Cindy Taylor. We are running legs 4 and 1.

I thought we could have a blog as a central place to go to get to know each other, contact each other, and share information and ideas.

If you would like to write a post, write a comment or send me an email and I'll add you as a blog administrator.

At our last meeting we figured out which shirts we will wear and talked about some of the preparations we need to make before the big race.

I got an email from Ragnar with some information about a Ragnar 101 Information Sesions throughout UT. It says to RSVP. If you didn't get the email I can forward it to you.

Here are some of the times and places:

Monday, May 24th at 7:00 pm
Striders
1776 N. 400 W.
Layton, UT 84041
801.728.9121
RSVP



Wednesday, May 26th at 6:00 pm
Wasatch Running Center
8946 South State Street
Sandy, UT 84070
801.566.8786
RSVP



Friday, May 28th at 6:00 pm
Deboer's Running Store
135 S. Main Street
Bountiful, UT 84010
801.292.7774
RSVP

Saturday, May 29th at 10:00 am
Peak Performance
1895 Washington Blvd.
Ogden, UT 84401
801.475.0111
RSVP


Thursday, June 3rd at 7:30 pm
Runner's Corner
336 East 800 South
Orem, UT 84097
801.223.7010
RSVP

Friday, June 4th at 6:00 pm
St. George Running Center
2736 E. Red Cliffs Drive. #2
St. George, UT 84790
435.628.7766
RSVP