Sh*z Ragnarians say; Wasatch Back Style

Salt Lake Mormon Temple
One of the sites in Salt Lake City

At the end of January, @RagnarRelay hooked into an internet meme and tweeted "Ragnar is jumping on the bandwagon but we need help! What is some #ShitRagnariansSay?"

A runner in the Wasatch Back Race

I still have yet to participate in my first Ragnar Relay, so I can only guess what most of the responses mean.  However, I do know that if you run in the Wasatch Back, as I plan to in June, you will inevitably meet some Mormons.  Of the many things that we Mormons do, one of them is to practice clean speech.  That's right, no swear words.  That has not, however, stopped us from coming up with our own choice phrases that stand as suitable substitutes.  So, while you may not hear sh!% so much here in Utah, you are bound to hear shiz, frick, and son of a biscuit eater.  The video below gives an excellent primer on most of the naughty Mormon phrases that you may hear during the Wasatch Back race.

With that being said, here is my favorite list of #ShizRagnariansSay, Wasatch Back style.

"Van #(1 or 2, whichever is the other one) are running really damn dang slow today." @erichauge

"Those high school track kids are only passing us because they're not old enough to drink vote"  

@Ranwithyourmom

"I seen a van full of BYU cougars back there" @JoMoFoDaddy

So, if you come out and enjoy one of the best Ragnar Relay's there is, hopefully this post will help you understand a little bit about the quirky culture that Utah has to offer.

See you at the finish line.

What's the funniest thing you've ever heard/seen at a race?  Share below.


Follow me on twitter: @MyriadRagnar

A soggy 12 miles

Today's run was wet and rainy.  Utah has been unseasonably warm lately.  Today's run would normally have been done in a snowstorm, but since it was 50 degrees this morning, we got to run in the rain.  The run was made a little more difficult by the fact that it wasn't a consistent rain.  Just when you got used to the wetness, it would stop raining and then you'd start to over heat.  Off comes the hat and gloves.  A few minutes later and the wind picks up so you have to put the hat and gloves back on.  Kind of frustrating.

Many people decided to get their running done today on the treadmill, but we still had a good turnout.  Not quite the usual 50+ people that turn out on Saturday, but we probably still had about 30 show up or so.  It surprises me that that many people would choose to run on a treadmill instead of outside.  The longest distance I've run on a treadmill is 10 miles, and I just about died of boredom.  Even with the rain and cold, it's way better to be outside.

There was so much rain today that as we ran along 1500 south, one of our more common routes, we pretty much had a babbling brook in the gutter.  It was kind of nice to have a different noise to listen to rather than the sound of car engines.  The sound of running water is rather soothing.  It was kind of like running next to a creek for a good two miles.

It was still a great run.  Any time you go out and battle the elements on a day like today makes you feel more confident in your abilities as a runner.  Races don't always happen on sunny warm days, especially here in Utah.  There's a pretty decent chance with the spring races here that race day could be in the middle of rainstorm.  I wouldn't even necessarily cross out snow either.

So, how wet was it today?  Check out the video below and you'll what we were dealing with.  I'm holding my hat in my hand.