Introducing Race Krispies

Runner Mitchell is 35 years old and lives in Larchmont, NY. This will be Mitchell’s 6th Ragnar event. Although he has been a gym addict since college, he did not start running until he returned to NY in 2007. Since then he has done 5 Ragnars, 5+ half marathons, and two full marathons. His first Ragnar was the Adirondacks in 2012 and that event changed his life for the BETTER.

A month after Atlanta Trail he will be running the Toronto Marathon, 3 more Ragnars, the NY Marathon AGAIN and countless more races because he LOVES BLING! Mitchell may soon branch out to try some Spartan Races and Mud Runs just to keep it FRESH.

When Mitchell is not running he is the Controller of an energy and real estate management and consulting firm. He loves his job because it allows him to go on run-cations – which,  incidentally,  his friends think is INSANE. “Ragnar is the best because the lasting friendships are INCREDIBLE.” he says.

Our next runner is a 32 year old Staff Sergeant in the United States Army from Saint Louis, MO, but currently living in Alexandria, VA. Running is not new to him, as he has to run for Army Physical Training.  When living in The Netherlands for three years, the running bug really bit him as the running routes were waiting there for him.  Coming back to the USA in 2012, he heard about the Ragnar Relay, but after hearing about how many miles it was overall, he chickened out.

A year later, he was still skeptical about the distance but went ahead to finish the 2013 Washington DC Ragnar with his co-workers. He has done one Ragnar, one Rebel Race DC (playing in the mud) and his first Rock n Roll DC ½ Marathon recently, and is looking to add more medals (especially the Double Ragnar medals) to his cubicle at work so he can be the envy of his co-workers. His fastest two mile run recorded is 13min 21sec, which he plans to break in the near future. Always competitive, if you are in front of him and running, he will do his best to pass you and not look back.  Call him Sarge as the Army took away his first name. Or Phillip – whatever works for you.

Runner Randy is a longtime runner who has logged over 36,000 miles and continually looks for fresh challenges. That’s how he got caught up with the Ragnar racing series. This will be his 7th Ragnar, all with a Digital Running team, and his first trail Ragnar.

Being a city boy and not used to wild animals, Randy’s challenge at this race beyond running 3 legs with minimal sleep, are the recent sightings of lions, tigers, and bears on the Atlanta trails. We will have to keep a close eye on him and keep his security blanket handy around the campsite when the night is dark. He normally runs the streets, parks and beltline within the city limits of Atlanta, and participates in many of races that the Atlanta area has to offer. Randy says that all this running helps him to control the stress of being a latex salesman for Vandelay Industries.  He lives in the city of Atlanta with his wife Lisa, a fast walker, along with their pup Harvey.  Randy hopes to soon realize his dream of running backwards across America in an attempt to show his support for Backwards People Everywhere.

Runner Cheryl is a wife and mother of two boys. She is a Ragnar virgin who grew up in Minnesota, where she started running in middle school in the wind, rain, sleet, ice, snow and the rare sight of the sun. She moved to sunny St. Petersburg, Florida, but decided 8 years of humidity was enough. Her husband was transferred to Atlanta, GA where she has fallen in love with trail running. She just finished her first Spartan race and is ready to take on the Ragnar trails!

Runner Laura is a wife to David and mother/driver to 3 kids (ages 12, 9 & 6) from Atlanta, GA. She started running in 2009 to get away from them all and the minivan… at least for a little while. Now Laura runs about 2 half marathons a month and travels to races with friends to experience new places. She ran her first relay in 2010 in Georgia and loved it. Since then she has run the Blue Ridge Relay on an ultra team and on 2 Southern Odyssey women’s teams in addition to the Tennessee Ragnar Relay (twice), the Florida Keys Ragnar Relay and the Wasatch Back Ragnar Relay. Laura keeps running to set an awesome example for her kids – you don’t have to be the best athlete you just have to give your best. When she comes home from races, the kids still ask, “Did you win, Mom?” Ask Laura about living a healthy, paleo lifestyle.

Runner Eric was raised by the skunk apes of the South Georgia wetlands. The migratory community instilled constant activity in Eric at a young age, solely in an attempt to preserve their way of life from the ever encroaching urban sprawl that threatened them. When Eric’s closest friend was hit by a GMC truck and left in the road to be eaten by vultures, Eric realized that he needed to adapt to the modern world. After multiple baths in tomato juice, Eric donned clothes and entered the 21st century. He holds onto his primitive upbringing, and can often be found running the pre-dawn, lonely, rural roads and trails of Georgia.

If you listen closely in the still, summer nights you might hear his primal grunts and screams as he tries to make contact with the ever diminishing population of the Georgia skunk apes. And in the dark, when there is no one else around, be very careful. The skunk apes might come for you… or it might just be Eric.

Runner Dan – bio coming soon.

Runner Brian is a veteran of Digital Running’s Ragnar teams Uncorked!, RagStars and TaBros teams. Brian ran his first two Ragnar Relays on consecutive weekends (completing the 2012 Colorado Ragnar Relay the weekend before the Napa Valley Ragnar Relay). We’re pretty sure he ran hard in all of his Ragnar experiences, but the only picture we could find was the one with the beer!

Team Captain Brian Darrow grew up playing volleyball in the Midwest. He signed up for his first marathon in 2007, after talking to a bourbon drinking, smoking graphic designer he met in a hotel bar in Atlanta. Hey, if she could run one, he should certainly be able to! He is now an avid runner who coaches adults across the country. In his spare time, Brian enjoys wearing little more than afro wigs while decorating vans with Christmas lights and taking long runs with strangers in the middle of the night. He has a Ph.D. in Oceanography with a specialty in numerical modeling and has an awesome Ragnar-times-estimation-algorithmic spreadsheet.