Lost Soles of Noke Ragnar Team

This is Ercilia Sometimes we call her the Adorable one, but only AFTER we've had coffee. Definitely NOT at 4am before we've even figured out where our coffee is. Her friends call her Celia. However, we have officially nominated her as Ms. Congeniality. (Although, I'm not really sure why. There was this one time that I thought she was calling me hot stuff, but it turns out she was just talking to herself. Whatever.) Celia has two sisters, a niece that she adores, and parents that have been married for 50 years (I know, right?). Chad forced Ercilia to join the Ragner. Wait. No. That's not right. She's Ercilia. She jumped at the chance because she's Ercilia. (Have you met her? She's Ercilia.) She loves the idea of doing something different and that the Ragnar is a chance to work as a team and rely on other people. Her enthusiasm and perspective highlight the focus of our chosen charity, Girls on the Run. Here are the weird things you should...

This is Melvin Melvin likes pain and misery. Melvin likes to peer pressure friends into taking on ridiculous challenges and then gets all in his feelings when those friends call him bad names for it. Melvin, apparently Melvo to some people and Freak to others, started running six years ago. He crossed running a 5k off of his Bucket List (seriously, people, are you working on those Bucket Lists???) and then he was hooked. He hired a personal trainer to get him through a Rugged Maniac and then moved on to marathons. He has completed five marathons, including the Blue Ridge Marathon three times (I've mentioned the awesome involved in crossing a BRM finish line, right?) He's run one 50k and has his sites set on a 50 Miler...one day. Now, if you ask Melvin, he will tell you that he was tricked into joining the Ragnar team. That would be a lie. The honest truth is, Melvin likes to do stupid things. It just is what it is and the sooner he owns that, the easier life will be ...

This is Kim We call her the Widow Maker, mostly because she wanted a cool mobster nickname and that is what the online generator came up with for her. (It's really fun, if you want to try:  http://themobmuseum.org/nickname-generator/ ) Kim comes from a special stock of people. I don't know her people, but I like to picture them as the kind of people that will keep you firmly in line while making you feel like you're really happy to be in line even if you kind of wanted to be out of line to begin with, but then you're too afraid to get out of line even if you see something outside of the line that you really want, but you're also still kind of ok with staying in line...because Kim. Kim runs...like sometimes she runs and then sometimes she doesn't...like this month I think she's running. Last month she definitely wasn't. We'll see what August brings. I mean, she runs like full marathons and half marathons, she just doesn't necessarily...

This is Samuel. Sam, for short. Or apparently Pickles if you're on a trail with him. (No, no. I'm curious, too.) Sam (since we're not on the trail right now) is the proud father of two daughters, both UVA graduates. Lauren co-owns a purbarre gym, which is something I've always wanted to try, so I'm going to see if I can name drop to get a free class or something. His younger daughter is an ICU nurse. (I feel like maybe at least one of use will end up meeting her before the end of this Ragnar...) Besides wanting to support Girls on the Run , Sam wanted to take on this race as a personal challenge. As far as he sees it, anyone can run the same races over and over (I think he was talking about me here), but you rarely get to run a relay that covers 3 states in 2 days. (Now see, I didn't know we were going to cover 3 states. I may need to go study. Don't tell Chad.) Sam is on Van Two with the other crazy happy early risers. (I'm seriously givi...

This is Sarah Sarah is the provider of the Death Wish coffee. (No, really. This is a thing and it frightens me a little bit because, well, have you met some of these people? They really don't need regular coffee, let alone the mega ultra-caffeinated makes you wish for death coffee. Still, she's in my van, so I'm clearly going to feel peer pressured to drink it. I mean, it's coffee.) Sarah loves to cook and bake. Sarah is my new favorite.  Sarah also loves to rock climb and power lift. So, clearly Sarah and I are going to have to stay friends, cause I'm pretty sure she could take me. She is also mom to a 12 year old Westie named Charlie and a 7 year old Pibble (that's cute talk for Pit Bull) named Buster. If you attend the Thursday night pub runs at Parkway Brewery, you've probably met Buster. I don't attend the Thursday night pub runs at Parkway, so I haven't met Buster. And I'm feeling a little resentful about it. Sarah ...

This is Jay. We call him the Enforcer. Those two beauties to his left (your right? his left? Right? Right.) are his beautiful little ball of fire wife Whitney and his equally beautiful, sweet daughter Sydney. Word has it Sydney attends Roanoke College when she's not squatting in his home. His son, Eric, stayed in Richmond after graduating from VCU. So, he and Whitney have done well with the parenting gig. Jay tinkered with triathlons for a while, but he's a pansy when it comes to cold water. So, he's now a normal runner like the rest of us. He's run every race distance up to and including marathons, so of course he had to find a new challenge. Enter Ragnar. Because what says challenge better than being locked in a van with five other gross sweaty, over cheery runners for two days? He claims Brian as a best friend, but we'll see how well that friendship holds up to Zahner the Dictator and 4am crazy happy Ercilia. Fun fact about Jay: Less than four years ago,...