Never Get In
A Van With
Strangers

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!

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!

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.