Want to run a Ragnar? It’s leaving after this year, and the price is about to go up.
Local fitness enthusiasts have flocked to Anne Springs Close Greenway one weekend each year since 2016 for a high-intensity event that’s described as one part race, one part party. But this year will be Ragnar Trail Carolina’s last at Anne Springs — and its future in the area is in question.
A recent email newsletter was sent out to subscribers promoting this year’s Ragnar race in October as “our final year to run on the amazing trails” of the Greenway. Word about Ragnar’s imminent departure spread fast among the local fitness community.
Local runners expressed disappointment about the popular race’s departure, and some will look elsewhere for a similar experience.
Ragnar, which started in 2003 in Utah, has become an extreme endurance phenomenon that draws legions of fitness enthusiasts to its array of distance running relay, trail, sprint and sunset races across the country and world.
Catherine Stovcsik, integrated marketing specialist with the Greenway in Fort Mill, South Carolina, said Ragnar decided to look at other venue options for future races.
“I can tell you we’ve enjoyed working with Ragnars throughout the years and enjoyed having them here,” Stovcsik said.
Ragnar’s parting with the Greenway might not be the end for Ragnar in the Charlotte area, though details are scant.
Tanner Bell, Ragnar founder and CEO, told CharlotteFive that Ragnar is considering a new Ragnar Trail venue or the possibility of bringing another Ragnar format to the area in response to feedback from the running community.
“Anne Springs Close Greenway has been an incredible partner over the years, and I want to thank them for hosting Ragnar Trail,” Bell said in an email to CharlotteFive. “We are committed to the running community in the Charlotte area and want to make sure we are always bringing Ragnarians what they want.”
It’s crazy fun: The Ragnar experience
At its most basic, Ragnar Carolinas is an intense relay race. In 2019, it began on a Saturday in October and extended overnight into Sunday. (Some attendees even arrived Friday night to get the celebration started early.) The 2020 race begins on Saturday, Oct. 24.
But to attendees, Ragnar is much more than a race. To them, it’s an experience where you’ll change out of sweaty clothes in a car with a stranger, where you’ll find the energy to run 16-plus miles to help your team, where you’ll party with a different stranger in a tent under the stars. It’s this messy camaraderie borne of adrenaline and sweat that draws locals back every year.
“Ragnar is great,” said Garret Purvis, who has run three Ragnars and plans to run this year’s. “It’s basically a huge camping sleepover party. You happen to have to run a little bit. There are people out there walking, there are people running really hard. There’s a lot of encouragement.
“I don’t even like running, but Ragnar changes you,” Purvis said. “It was the first race I had ever done. I hadn’t even run a 5K. When they asked me what my 5K pace was, I said, ‘I don’t even know what a 5K is.’”
Purvis, who lives in the Fort Mill area, has ADHD and found that Ragnar challenged him to pay attention in a way he never had before.
“The stimulation of always having to pay attention to what you’re doing — it really made it more enjoyable,” Purvis said.
George Crump, who owns The Stone Man in Fort Mill, finds Ragnar’s combination of endurance, outdoor adventure and teamwork as its selling point. (Both Crump and Purvis found out about Ragnar through F3, a fitness group they are in.)
“The appeal of Ragnar is that you get to be a part of a team event,” Crump said. “That’s the combination that’s kept me going. I enjoy training with people. I also love doing my own training and running on my own. I love the physical challenge of doing it.”
Kru Soto, a psychologist who lives in Fort Mill, said Ragnar stands out for the connection it brings to participants. Soto learned about Ragnar through Females in Action, a fitness group. In last year’s Ragnar, she ran three legs and then had to cover another for a teammate who was injured. In total, she ran around 23 miles – nearly a marathon.
“It’s amazing the feeling you have when you’re at Ragnar,” Soto said. “You feel total freedom. It’s a big adventure.”
Liz Witte, a Charlotte area kindergarten teacher, is drawn to the event’s incomparable “crazy” energy and camaraderie.
“It’s just a blast, with friends and even strangers,” Witte said. “One woman I met was someone doing the DC Ragnar, and I just jumped in her car! … When you’re sleep deprived, sweaty – you’re changing in a van, you’re changing in a tent – you just connect instantly. It’s so much crazy fun we keep doing it year after year.”
Runners reflect on Ragnar’s departure
Witte has run three Ragnars and has already signed up for this year’s race with a group of friends. Witte is disappointed that Ragnar will be leaving the area.
“When we got the email, we were instantly messaging each other,” Witte said, describing her group of friends. “We were disappointed they were taking it away. It’s the closest Ragnar. I love doing them but it’s hard to get to them when you’re working, have a family life, you know. As a Ragnar fan, I’m definitely disappointed.”
“We were talking about the Ragnar, and saying, ‘If the Ragnar isn’t here, what are we going to do?’” Soto said. “We would consider traveling to go to the Ragnar. It’s a race that we always have in our calendar.”
Purvis said he hates to see Ragnar leave the area. He would be interested in future Ragnar races if they were relatively close to the Charlotte area. Otherwise, he is looking at other alternatives, including the Get Outside Mountain Relay, a 200-plus mile relay in Alleghany County.
“I’m definitely open to other events,” Witte said. “We’ve been looking at other relay events in the area. … I love the concept of a team and everyone running their miles and switching off. I’m willing to do others.”
Because of the availability of other fitness options in the area, Crump doesn’t think of Ragnar leaving the area as a huge setback.
“I must say for me personally, it won’t feel like a big loss,” Crump said. “There are plenty of other options. There’s races almost every weekend at the Greenway and other areas. Ragnar is special because it brings that endurance overnight aspect. But I still don’t think it’s going to be that hard to find other things.”
A love for fitness remains in Charlotte
It’s possible that all is not lost for locals who love Ragnar. Ragnar CEO and founder Bell said the company is considering other options to keep some form of Ragnar in the area.
“We are currently looking at the viability of bringing a Ragnar Road, Ragnar Sprint or Ragnar Sunset to Charlotte,” Bell said in an email. “We don’t have anything to announce today, but we are looking forward to exciting things in the future.”
Regardless of Ragnar’s future at Anne Springs, the Greenway itself continues to draw fans. Stovcsik said the Greenway is just getting into its busy season, which kicks off at the end of March. The Greenway hosts a race series throughout the year, as well as other activities for the fitness-inclined.
“Two years ago, the Greenway was the first place where I started running,” Soto said. “I fell in love with the place. It’s beautiful. It’s always clean. The people are great. They even ask you for how long you’re going to run for safety.”
Beyond Ragnar and the Greenway, local runners are confident in the variety of fitness alternatives in the Charlotte area.
“With trail running and ultra marathons, when I started seven or eight years ago, ultra marathons were not a big thing,” Crump said. “You had to be a bit of a weirdo. But now, everybody’s doing it. It’s becoming much more common.”
Other running and endurance fitness options in the Charlotte area include the Charlotte Marathon, an incoming Tough Mudder bootcamp and more. You can find alternatives online at Charlotte Running Company, RunCLTRun, and Running the USA.
This story was originally published February 11, 2020 at 5:30 AM.
