Inaugural Canadian Ragnar Relay attracts 120 teams

The traveling monolith that is the Ragnar Relay series  came to Canada for the first time this weekend. 120 teams of 12 runners caravanned through 311K of Southern Ontario, beginning in Coburg and finishing in front of the falls in Niagara.

“We chose this place because it’s ridiculously beautiful. We don’t choose to run our race just any place – we choose gorgeous places,” Ragnar official Josh Ferrin told Northumberland Today. “It’s the first race outside of the United States and we found a wonderful racing community here.”

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The hugely popular relay series started 10 years ago in Utah and has since grown into an American institution in the United States. The Niagara relay was the companies’ first foray into Canada, attracting teams from all across North America.

The Ragar brand has developed a huge following in the United States, with some of their relay events in places like Chicago attracting hundreds of teams and nearly 5000 runners in all.

The inaugural Canadian Ragnar event was by all accounts a success, albeit with a a couple of strange twists.

A cursory stroll through any of the checkpoints along the course revealed cleverly decorated vans with license plates from as far away as Texas and Utah. Organizers said that the event brought dozens of diehard fans of their events north of the board for the first Canadian version of a Ragnar Relay. The announcer at the beginning of one of the stages of the race indicated that one runner was participating in her 37th Ragnar relay in Ontario.

There were of course the usual wrinkles that any first year event would experience. Although much of the sprawling 311K course was clearly marked, there were few marshals along the route to make sure that signs were not moved or confusing. At one point at about 2 a.m. local time, several teams did get lost along a stretch of path near Oakville. They emerged after runner roughly four superfluous kilometres through a dark path with nothing but a headlamp to light their way.

Immediately following that confusing section a very bizarre incident played out. Two would-be muggers accosted a runner from Utah, brandishing what appeared to be a handgun. Other runners intervened, but shots were fired at the runners. As it turns out, the assailants were carrying a pellet gun. One runner had her nose grazed by a pellet, but was not injured.

Local police pursued the two men and they were apprehended in Oakville shortly thereafter. Both will face attempted armed robbery charges. All three runners involved in the altercation were able to carry on with the event.

Regardless of the dangerous encounter, many runners have said they are already eagerly anticipating next year’s race. Race director Katie Aston was excited about how the event came together. “We’ll start planning next year’s Niagara relay pretty much right away,” she said standing with a backdrop of the Falls and happy runners coming through the finishing chute.