Never Get In
A Van With
Strangers
Confirmed. Ragnar Trail Wisconsin is happening, at Nine Mile Forest, tomorrow. The nightmare roster stays hypothetical. Thirteen runners across two teams, a glamping site apiece, and everybody already in motion.
8:00 AM Central, Friday 18 Sept — our first team off the line at Nine Mile Forest, Wausau. The second team follows in a staggered wave behind it, the way Ragnar runs its trail starts. The date is real, the time is real, and the only thing still unconfirmed is what time three of us get through Chicago.
01 Inbound
Everybody is
already moving
Ragnar confirmed it, the roster is set at thirteen, and as of this morning this team is converging on one midwestern forest from a genuinely stupid number of directions. Hawaii sent three. New Zealand sent one. Somebody is coming from Portland. The rest of you have the easiest commute of your lives and we expect you to gloat about it.
Hawaii to New Zealand to a forest
outside Wausau. Obviously.
02 Recruitment
Two more
strangers
Fact 04, back in August, was the ugly one: slots open, and nothing to sell but a maybe. You cannot recruit into that. Jimmie recruited into that anyway. The roster never did fill — it settled at thirteen of a possible sixteen and then it was set — but two people said yes while the race was still theoretical, and that is the part worth remembering.
Said yes to a race that might not have happened, then took the third seat out of Hawaii. Roughly 4,200 miles to run laps in a Wisconsin forest overnight with a team named after a van it does not actually use. Correct instincts, immediately. Welcome to it.
- Recruited by
- Jimmie
- Inbound from
- Hawaii — seat 3 of 3
- Approx. air miles
- ~4,200
- Sold on
- A race that did not yet exist
- Resemblance to Delores
- None reported
Jess Schroeder's sister, in from Charlotte, and already on the ground in Chicago while three of us are still arguing with a departure board. Absorbed into the local crew on arrival. The Schroeder pipeline delivers again.
- Relation
- Jess Schroeder's sister
- Inbound from
- Charlotte, NC
- Approx. air miles
- ~600
- Status
- Landed — now local
- Storm exposure
- None. Beat it.
03 Weather hold
Thunderstorms
over Chicago
Naturally. We spent most of August and half of September not knowing whether there would be a race, got the yes, and the sky picked today to have opinions. Storms are moving through Chicago, which means holds, which means three of us are currently a range rather than a time. Nobody is stranded. Everybody is inconvenienced. This is fine.
Out of Newark, Dallas and Raleigh respectively. All three routed through the same weather. Assume arrival times move. Assume they move more than once.
Not a cancellation, not a crisis — just a soft edge. Whoever lands first grabs a table, grabs snacks, and holds the position. Everyone else joins in stages.
Nine Mile Forest is a few hundred miles north of all this and does not care what O'Hare is doing. Friday morning is Friday morning.
A thunderstorm can move a meetup.
It cannot move the weekend.
04 The rumor mill
Chain of custody
Every piece of information you currently have about September travelled this exact path. Presented without comment, so you can decide for yourself how much of your anxiety is load-bearing.
Resolved 17 Sept 2026 — the race is on
hypothesis. Not an announcement.
theories and pointless anxiety.
(jk). The parenthetical is doing a lot of work.
05 What to know
The four facts
Everything actually known, as of the transmission. Anything not on this list is Reddit.
Archive — as of 05 Aug 2026. Fact 01 went our way; Fact 04 mostly did.
Nor is it confirmed. We do not know yet. You are being told this on purpose, for transparency, rather than being managed.
Thorough. Human. Zero concrete answers. More is expected within a week or so. The full text is in the receipts below.
Flights, rooms, rentals, the works. Ragnar's own operations lead said the same thing unprompted: don't book anything non-cancellable yet.
Three to four slots still open, which means selling a race that might not exist. Annoying. Solvable. As always, we'll figure it out.
06 Most importantly
The weekend
happens either way
Race on or race off, Kelaine and Gibbs are going to the Midwest for a Strangers weekend, and would love it if literally all of you came. Wisconsin, Illinois, wherever. Here is the confirmed programme.
07 Field report
Sighting
in the wild
The first race this team ever ran together was Hood To Coast, in Oregon. The van was decorated around a single theme: offering candy to strangers. That van is the reason there is a team name at all. Back in early August, at a county fair in Nebraska, Dave and Jess found this one trailered and derby-bound at dusk, running the same joke with no knowledge of us whatsoever.
- Subject
- Chevrolet Express, mint green, No. 55
- Legible text
- "Free Candy" · "Eat Exhaust"
- Located
- County fair, eastern Nebraska
- Reported by
- Dave and Jess, in the field
- Known links to this team
- None whatsoever
- Relevance
- Total
Ragnar can cancel a race.
It cannot cancel the bit.
08 What we don't need or want
The nightmare roster
The stated personal nightmare: this email spooks everyone into pulling out, then Ragnar says
GAME ON
and the team is down to two humans and whoever can be sourced at short notice.
Below is that team. Look at it. Really look at it.
09 What we need from you
Pick a letter
Nothing concrete from Ragnar yet, but we definitely want to hear from you. Once we know where everyone stands we can build a backup plan that isn't disruptive or last minute and will be epic and fun as hell.
Archive — the ask from 05 Aug 2026. Since answered: the race is on and thirteen of you are inbound.
10 Receipts
The source material
The primary documents, lightly cleaned. Contact details removed on purpose — this page is not a place to harvest anyone's inbox.
Exhibit A — the transmission, in full
Hello Strangers!
Gibbs and I hopped on the phone yesterday because we heard through the grapevine (AKA gossip queen (jk) Rebecca) that there are some rumors about upcoming Ragnar race cancellations. The tl;dr of it all is that Ragnar canceled a couple races for August with no explanation, then a former employee posted a video to Facebook with a hypothesis that they're going to cancel all of August and September, and then Reddit started percolating with theories and pointless anxiety.
But for this team of resourceful champions, we are just trying to share info and make contingency plans so we can maximize our funtime USA and minimize disruption to your lives.
What to know
- We don't know yet whether our race (Trail Wisconsin) is going to be canceled but wanted to give y'all as much info as possible for transparency.
- I emailed the Ragnar team yesterday and got a pretty thorough email back from them within an hour (pasted below) but no concrete answers — I'm hoping we'll know more in the next week or so.
- If you/we book anything, best to do it refundable in case your/others' plans change.
- Annoyingly, we still have 3–4 runner slots to fill for the race, so we're simultaneously balancing the need to recruit with the possibility of a cancellation. As always, we'll figure it out (or I will greedily run every leg that people don't want).
Most importantly
Whether the race is on or off, Gibbs and I plan to go to the Midwest for a Strangers weekend, and we would love if literally all of you joined. Wisconsin, Illinois, WHEREVER.
Even if it's not glamping and running a Ragnar, we will plan a stellar away weekend that involves custom swag, outdoor activities (running? kayaking? dancing in the moonlight?), calling Gibbs a praying mantis, eating too many snacks, finding excellent bakeries, and maybe even a séance to contact the spirits of former Ragnar teammates (Brian still not invited).
While I would prefer that Ragnar comes through with the race, I am SUPER confident that we can and will make an incredible weekend with this crew.
What we don't need/want
My personal nightmare is that this email causes a ripple effect in which you second-guess whether you even want to do the race. (I promise, you do.) And then Ragnar is like GAME ON! But you've pulled out and so the team is now composed of me, Gibbs, a few seedy drifters we pick up on the black market, and a raccoon named Delores. The goal is not to send shockwaves of panic. The goal here is to just share what's happening and then make a solid backup plan with consenting adults.
What we need from you
We still don't know anything concrete from Ragnar, but we definitely want to hear from you. Please reply to me/Gibbs and let us know where you fall:
- A) IN no matter what
- B) IN for the race only
- C) Still have questions (send those!)
Once we have a better idea of where everyone stands, we can start to figure out a backup plan that won't be disruptive or last minute and WILL be epic and fun as hell. Because the truth is, we fucking love you guys, always want to see you, and KNOW we can make that happen.
We didn't throw this curve ball, but we still know how to drive in runs.
HAVE A GREAT WEDNESDAY, STRANGERS!
Exhibit B — the letter to Ragnar
My friend (Gibbs, CC'd) and I each have a team registered for Ragnar Trail Wisconsin this September, and a glamping reservation for each:
- TEAM #140 (Never Get In A Van With Strangers)
- TEAM #150 (Never Get In A Van With Strangers 2: Electric Boogaloo)
Moreover, we are repeat and annual customers of the Ragnar experience, having run about a dozen of these amazing races across the country since 2013, expanding to two teams that mark their calendars and save their dates especially for Ragnar every year. We are big fans and supporters of what y'all do and know how much work and effort goes into building and maintaining this community and putting on races of this magnitude. Truly, thank you.
We have heard some unfortunate rumors that the Trail Wisconsin race is going to be canceled. We are hoping you can provide some concrete information and assurances that the race is going to happen, or clarity around what the gameplan is so we can inform our team appropriately. On a human note, we have teammates who are planning to fly in from Hawaii and New Zealand, and a number of parents who are arranging childcare. Plus there are countless other logistics to arrange with transportation and accommodations before and after the race, so we're hoping to save on costs and time. I know we are not unique in this regard — this is probably just about every team.
We have a couple questions for you:
- Can you share an update on the gameplan and when decisions will be made (aside from weather... we understand it's not possible to predict that far in advance)?
- Can you provide clarity on the refund policy in the event of a cancellation?
I appreciate your help and hope we get the chance to run and see you and the Ragnar community next month. Thanks for all you do!
Exhibit C — Ragnar's reply
Hi Kelaine,
Thanks for reaching out! And thanks for your continued participation in Ragnar for so many years. I am sure our paths have crossed at some point.
Transparently, I don't have the final answers yet on what events may or may not happen for the rest of this season. There is a very real possibility that Trail Wisconsin does not happen, however, it has not yet officially been cancelled. We're awaiting further guidance and updates from the executive leadership at Ragnar's parent company, Fitlab, on how we are able to proceed.
We may get updates as soon as this week or by early next week. I can tell you that Fitlab executive leadership is doing everything possible to ensure the rest of our season happens. We will have to have some guidance soon as our team is still fully planning to deliver other events happening this month. I totally understand all of the logistics you and your teammates need to prepare. Honestly, I would suggest waiting to book anything that is non-cancellable if you can until you receive more information from us.
Know that myself, as the operations leader in Ragnar, along with our race directors, are pushing as hard as we can for clarity to pass along to our community. As soon as we have definite answers, we will pass those along. I do expect this will be soon.
If Wisconsin or any of our events are officially cancelled, we will email you with options. With other cancellations, we have offered a free transfer to another Ragnar event, plus an additional free team. Or teams can opt for a full refund. I expect Fitlab leadership will offer the same options again if there are more cancellations.
I really appreciate your dedication to Ragnar and your patience here. I am hopeful we will be able to provide some clarity in the next week or so.