Ralph’s She-Vanigans at Ragnar NWP

What do six strangers quested with finding a mascot do on the eve of running 200 miles? They hatch chicken-napping plans!

Team “Long Distance RELAY-tionship” at the Ragnar Relay Northwest Passage 2012 was made up of strangers who were pulled together online by Digital Running. Van 1, driven by Coach Brian, had a rubber chicken as a van mascot to sit on Brian’s dashboard. He challenged Van 2 with finding a better mascot than Ralph the Ragnar Chicken.

Instead, Van 2 waited until Van 1 was distracted at the starting line and kidnapped Ralph!

The following is an account by Van 2 runner Nicole of what happened to Ralph over the course of the race:

Meeting up with van 1 at the starting line, chicken-napping was far from our thoughts. It was a great idea but the execution was another matter.  Most people lock their vehicle when they leave it unattended, right?

But sometimes they don’t.  And quite easily, van one’s chicken, Ralph, found its way to the dash of van two. Excited the chicken was in our grasp, we almost gave it away when a van one runner asked us what was so funny (thankfully, not noticing the lumpy stomach where Ralph was hidden inside someone’s jacket).

During the hour and a half ride to the hotel, van-mates were in hysterics over the best way to reveal the chicken-napping. Ransom note with letters cut out from a magazine? Leave KFC buckets in our wake?

While van one ran the first six legs, Ralph & his new van two mates went on several adventures.

Breakfast w/ the gang at Old Town Cafe

Breakfast special a la Ralph

Met up with some of his old pals & the evil Claw at Walmart

Hanging with the fam…

Ralph looks so sad.

Bienvenue! Je m’appelle Jambon!

Now Van Two has their own mascot, what do we do with Ralph?

Ralph: bound & gagged. Choking the Chicken…

We did have one scare. Apparently there is a baby rubber chicken tied around Ralph’s neck and no one noticed. When Van one asked if the baby chicken was also being taken care of, we were positive we had unleashed some reign (rain? it was Seattle after all…) of bad luck but thankfully the baby chicken was alive & well.

Then, at some point, van one pig-napped Jambon with stealth under the shadow of darkness. (Ummmm… does anyone lock their vans??)  And I’ll confess van two didn’t notice until we neared the finish line. Assuming, of course, Jambon was buried in the mix of trash, protein bars & sweaty clothes on the van floor.

Granted, when you have a group of people running Ragnar, they obviously have a few things in common. Discussions about running and races abound. But Ralph brought an instant kinship to this group of 6 strangers (even before the actual chicken-napping happened.) Hours of laughter ensued because of this rubber chicken; he also kept us connected to van one. Five dollar dog toys will now be a reminder of how a harmless prank created lasting friendships and an unforgettable adventure in the Pacific Northwest.

The Adventures of Ralph and Jambon will live on longer than the memory of men running in their undies in Seattle, or those hills. Ralph and Jambon – and now R.J., Ralph Junior – will be on to another Ragnar in just 3 weeks!