~:[CH4 - Day 101]:~ Pure Joy

~:[CH4 - Day 101]:~ Pure Joy

I got the baton at half past midnight as I had my shortest leg of the relay. I felt so good. There were rolling hills on my leg but nothing compared to my first leg, plus it was nice and cool. The last hill was a little killer, but once I got rolling on the downhill towards the finish, I saw my target and went after it. I was able to out kick that target at the end and it felt so good because I finished that leg without any issues. I was getting a bit tired, as was my car as we crept into the evening, so we headed to the next relay zone to grab some sleep and I was about to get a 2.5 hour nap in my car and it felt so great. As we headed through our route, all I could think about was the moment of my last leg. I grabbed the baton around 8am and headed up my same route I've taken for the past three Ragnars. At the end of the route, I pushed through the finish line and raced a lady to the finish. I pulled away at the end with my cape and wand and the smile on my face when completing the race was not going to go away. I was so happy to have finished and knowing that I would not have another leg ahead. We were able to get on the course to see Andrew and Natalie and in between we stopped at Bristol Farms and McDonalds. We headed to the finish line and chatted with some people and relaxed as we waited for the other van. As we headed to the finish, we found out that Audrey had already finished in quite a good time. 

It was great to celebrate with our full team together, as for most of the race we don't get to see each other. It made me realize how lucky I was to have such a great team. The stress of preparation and the exhaustion of the race was worth ever moment we had together. It was also amazing to bring generations of Cerritos Dons together as some of my former runners who didn't know each other got to spend time together, increasing the strength of the ohana. We also had two coaches (one current, one former) and alumni from when I was in high school on the team and their significant others to complete the team. The rest of the day, I just kept thinking of how great it was to be with this group and we enjoyed the night as we down plate after plate of meat to refuel at Korean BBQ after our trek. We even made a stop at Iceskimo before going back to the hotel to crash. I keep smiling thinking about the past 24 hours and am so happy that we survived. When we pieced our medals together, it was more than just medals coming together, but a group of people who now have an accomplishment that they can share together. It was amazing and words could never summarize how this relay went. It was truly indescribable.