RAGNAR RELAY SERIES
- Ragnar Relay Series Establishes Itself as the Leader in Compelling and Fastest Growing Running Category
- Ragnar Relay Adds Napa Valley Race to Overnight Relay National Series
- Ragnar Relay Adds Pennsylvania Race to Overnight Relay National Series
- NordicTrack® Signs on as Presenting Sponsor of Ragnar Relay Series
- Ragnar Relay Adds Madison-Chicago 200 Overnight Relay to National Series
- Ragnar Relay Along with Biggest Loser Alumni Sione Fa and Brendan Donovan Announce Lucky Winners of Contest
- Long-distance relay race planned, latest in growing number of similar events
- Run Amok Relay racers cover 200 miles in costume, in Pennsylvania\'s Amish country
- Ragnar Relay Series Adds Three New Races to 2012 Season
- High distances ... Ultra long, ultra cool
- Now It\\\'s All About Endurance
- Ragnar Relay Series Announces CLIF Bar as Official Nutrition Partner
- Ragnarly
- Relishing Relays
- Inside the Ragnar Relay
- 9 Extreme Fitness Challenges to Try in 2012
- Ragnar Relay Series Presented by Nordic Track Announces a Multi-Market Sponsorship with Footbalance
- Ragnar Relay One Tough Challenge
- Racing to the Alter
For all press inquiries
contact:
Tanner Bell
Director of Race Development
877-83-RELAY
801-608-2487
tanner@ragnarrelay.com
Ragnar Relay Series Establishes Itself as the Leader in Compelling and Fastest Growing Running Category
Nation’s Premier Series Selling out Races As Runners Flock to Exciting “Team” Format Distance Events
KAYSVILLE, UT February 17, 2010 – The Ragnar Relay Series is expanding to 12 events in 2010 and will race across much of the nation’s most beautiful terrain. Ragnar, the nation’s premier source of overnight, running relay races, challenges teams of up to 12 runners on courses of between 180 and 200 miles.
Adventure-hungry runners will be trekking through Utah, Arizona, Nevada, Southern California, Florida, Minnesota, Washington State, Tennessee, New York, Boston, and Washington D.C. While elite teams finish races in as little as 17 hours, most will need 24 to 30 hours to complete these visually engaging and physically demanding courses. Runners who compete in Ragnar events are drawn to the sense of “team” which is typically missing from traditional marathon formats.
“The Ragnar Relay Series takes its name from a marauding 9th Century Norse King who fearlessly explored and conquered new lands,” said series founder Dan Hill, Co-Founder of Ragnar Events. “Runners competing in Ragnar events share the same free-spirited sense of adventure.”
The Ragnar Relay Series is experiencing dramatic growth as team registrations numbers are sky- rocketing and selling out races months in advance. The Ragnar Relay Del Sol in Arizona has experienced a 56 percent jump in participants from 2009 to 2010 and the series is projecting a 100 percent increase in registrations for all its events. Founded in 2004, Ragnar races have grown from 200 participants to more than 20,000 in 2009, with 40,000 projected for 2010.
“The Ragnar Relay Series is committed to bringing this exciting ‘team’ concept to more communities across the nation,” said Chris Infurchia, CEO of the Ragnar Relay Series. “What started out as a way for avid and elite runners to experience a race very different from marathons and triathlons, has evolved into a series providing runners of all levels an opportunity to push themselves in a new way.”
The Ragnar Relay Series was founded by Dan Hill and Tanner Bell. Hill and Bell together launched the first Ragnar Relay coined “Wasatch Back,” a wild 170-mile relay race from Logan to Park City, Utah in 2004. Today, with 13,000 runners, the Wasatch Back is the largest running event in the state of Utah.
“Tanner and I have been amazed by the growth of the Wasatch Back relay since the inaugural run in 2004,” said Hill. “The running community’s passion for this new challenge is the reason this race has grown into a series that is quickly becoming a phenomenon.”
Each leg of a Ragnar Race varies in difficulty so elite and novice runners can run together in teams. Each team is responsible for providing two support vehicles, with six runners in each vehicle. The first vehicle drops off the first runner and drives ahead to the first exchange point. Teams repeat this pattern for six legs until they hand off to their second vehicle. This leapfrogging pattern continues day and night all the way to the much anticipated finish line.
“Our goal is to provide participants of every Ragnar Relay with an unforgettable relay experience that brings out their wild side,” said Bell. “Making fitness fun and creating lifelong memories is what Ragnars are all about. We knew that this thrilling form of racing was too big to be a single annual relay, which is why Ragnars are going to be part of every running enthusiast’s vernacular, much in the same way Triathlons came to prominence in the 1990s.”
Each Ragnar Relay donates a portion of the proceeds to a local charity. Those interested in participating can register on the company’s website.
About Ragnar Events, LLC
Ragnar Events, LLC was co-founded in 2004 by Dan Hill and Tanner Bell. The idea to run an overnight 24+-hour relay across the mountains of Utah was a lifelong dream of Dan Hill’s father. The dream became reality when Dan Hill and his childhood friend Tanner Bell organized the first Wasatch Back Relay, spanning 188 miles from Logan to Park City, UT in 2004. Since 2004 the Ragnar Relay Series has grown from a single relay in Utah to the largest overnight relay series in the nation. The Ragnar Relay Series now has 11 races scheduled for 2010 and is growing every year. Ragnar Events, LLC is based in Salt Lake City, UT and managed by co-founders Dan Hill and Tanner Bell.
Visit www.ragnarrelay.com for race dates and exact locations.
