Rainier Ragnar 2026- Friday Recap

Elizabeth, Micah, Taylor, and I embarked on a crazy adventure this weekend with the Mt. Rainier Ragnar Trail Relay.

Most teams have eight people, with each runner completing three alpine loops on National Forest land near Mt. Rainier. The trails are no joke (but beautiful!)—steep single-track, high mountain lakes, waterfalls, and plenty of flowing creeks.

We decided to go with an ultra team of four, which meant each of us would do the loops twice and climb more than 7,000 feet of elevation. 

Crazy? Absolutely. 

Fun? Also absolutely.

Elizabeth made the smart call to stop midway when her knee started hurting, but 15.6 miles on these trails is no small thing! Taylor, Micah, and I each logged 31.2+ miles, starting at 9 a.m. Friday and finally finishing around 1:30 p.m. Saturday—thanks in part to a 2.5-hour delay Saturday morning because of lightning.

It was a fabulous adventure, and I’m pretty sure we earned our team name: 

Run Like Your Mother.

GO TEAM! 🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️⛰️

Crystal Mountain 2026 

green loop- 2.8 miles

yellow loop- 5 miles 

red loop- 7.8 miles

5:15 am on Friday morning

Taylor found a heart rock right when we got to our campsite - a good omen for the next 24+ hours 

Ultra Team (featuring Chicken Legs shorts) 

getting ready for Leg 1 

Yup. 

Loop One in the bag 

  

starting Loop 2

fresh off the Gondola ride to the top of Crystal Mountain so Taylor can take the baton from Micah and start Loop 3

Micah finishing Loop 2 with his new BFF Steve 

with Micah at the top holding a photo of Liam on a stick that I carried with me throughout the race since Liam was not able to come (he was originally supposed to be part of our team but was not able to come because of work.) 

Liam stuck in my ponytail (and where he hung out the whole time while I was running) 

Loop 3 strong finish 

waiting in the transition area for Loop 4 

starting Loop 5

seeing Ellie Montgomery (our friend Paula's daughter up there who was on an 8-person team) 

Loved these signs!! 

with Zach (trail buddy) - we kept each other going getting up 2500 feet

Loop 8 done! 

yes to disco balls in the race tents

getting to be with our friend Lila who was our campsite neighbor 

break time at the campsite in between running our relay legs 

Let's go!! (Taylor off to do Loop 11) 

https://youtube.com/shorts/09wO1xbhFQc?feature=share

sunset at the transition area waiting for Taylor 

with Elizabeth (and Liam too peeking behind me) 

GO TAYLOR!!! 

https://youtube.com/shorts/SBFqc-Kbt4M?feature=share

before heading into the dark for Loop 12 on the red loop 

with Nathan (who was my trail buddy for a while on this long, dark path!) 

passing off to Micah for Loop 14