Teen runner in critical condition

It seems that the ragnar relays have had a lot of issues with safety recently. Hopefully they will solve this and the kid gets better.

Yes, let's all pray for him.

This is our first Ragnar event and the Ragnar officials spent an enormous amount of energy on safety. They required everyone outside of their vehicle to wear a reflective safety vest during the night. We didn't see it happen but were there minutes later and he was shirtless and wearing pj bottoms with no vest near. He was not running at the time and was trying to toss some water to his teammate but crossed the street without looking. The driver was driving at a reduced speed. This was an accident.

Again, please pray for him because he was a bright student with a very big future!

For this busy stretch of the race teams were warned not to park on highway and cross to provide support to their runner, police were giving tickets. Rules stated all people outside the van must wear reflective vests.

There is no way to completely "control" a race that spans this much distance. The risks were clear and rules/precautions were in place.

The team captain/driver should not have parked there and attempted this move in the first place and if they did no one should have been allowed outside the van without the vest.

While there are some opportunities for improvement, such as adding water stops for legs where van support is not practical, I hope there is no attempt to "blame" Ragnar. The team had "responsibility" for the people in the van.

The latest update is not encouraging, "little to no chance for a recovery."

Overall this event is not really a good idea. BUT, I am glad to live in a country were we stil have the right to accept risks and do "dumb" things. I hope there is not a future where ragnar is a vitual race run on treadmills with scenes projected on a wall and our vital signs contineously monitored.

Praying for a miracle.....

This is really, really sad. I feel for his family.

Sounds like a good kid.

Too many people are quick to blame this poor kid. I was there and while I didn't witness the accident, I can tell you Ragnar did very little to insure our safety. I realize we are all ultimately responsible for our safety, but the race organizers also owe us a reasonably safe course, which they did not provide.

This race was my third Ragnar Del Sol and this was the first time I really felt like I was in danger. Ragnar pays a lot of lip service to safety, yet they didn't even check our safety gear at the start of the race like they were supposed to. We came up to the packet pickup window to show our vests and headlamps as required and they just blew us off.

Later we saw people at every exchange walking around with no vests or headlamps at night. None of the race personnel said anything, even after news spread that someone had been hit by a car.

Several of our team members also mentioned, before the accident, that the race didn't seem as safe as previous years. Legs that had been lined with orange cones in previous years had none. One leg went up a highway offramp, with no shoulder, and the highway was still open! Another went for over a mile on Route 60 with no shoulder and oncoming traffic racing by.

I doubt I will do this race again. Judging by how quickly Ragnar is expanding around the country, they seem more interested in making money than providing a safe, quality event. My heart goes out to Robbie and his family.

I have never got this race. I am a hardcore runner but to stay up for 24 hours to run upwards of 25 miles in some cases doesn't sound like fun. Throw in a $1200 entry fee and that seals the deal for me. Not interested. Hope the kid survives because it is a tragic accident.

Really sucks. I feel for his family and friends.

But FYI: Prayer (in controlled experiments, including some that specifically had people praying for strangers' health) has been shown to have no healing benefit. Pray if it makes *you* feel better, but don't expect it to help this kid.

As a nurse I can tell you that people with a spiritual

belief have better outcomes when sick/injured than those that don't.

It's a fact. Prayer could help.

Prayer causes subtle and enormous shifts in energy. Keep praying, meditating, thinking positive thoughts for this young person.

As a person who occasionally gets sick or injured I can tell you that praying for someone is pointless. It's the person's own belief that makes them feel better. It releases endorphins in the same way that laughter does. You can't laugh for them so there's no reason to pray for them.

Nat - you're too easily egged on by the forgettable jackasses that frequent this board. It doesn't rebuke their idiocy for you to act in a similar fashion. Just show some character and wish the kid well.

Hoping for a swift recovery and safety for the other competing runners.

Prayers up, I hope this kid get gets better as soon as possible.

No matter your politics, I posted here:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2462128/posts

He will get lots of prayers.

nurse F P wrote:

As a nurse I can tell you that people with a spiritual

belief have better outcomes when sick/injured than those that don't.

It's a fact. Prayer could help.

I can see that my previous post was poorly stated. I absolutely agree that those who pray might, when sick or injured, have better outcomes.

But praying for someone else? No, that's been shown to be ineffective.

Which doesn't dilute my sympathy for the kid, his family, and his friends.

I just saw this and my thoughts/prayers to the family. How sad, we have few friends who's kids go or had gone to that school...

They didn't check your safety? Are they supposed to be your parents? Are you morons? It is up to YOU to be safe when running at night. Anyone who has ever done so on their own knows the drill. There is no way a relay like that can block off ramps like that.

Don't do it again if you don't want to but spare me the "they weren't taking care of us crap". Grow the f*** up

Ragnar vet, Really? You are waiting for someone else to "check" your safety? Are you serious? If you are waiting for someone to make you be safe you are the exact type of person that will take down this race and every other freedom we have left. People need to look in the mirror and own their shit!

I was driving to Phoenix on 60 Friday night and drove along the race route for at least an hour. This has to be one of the worst possible places to hold a race. There were cones and runners with vests but the highway is 2 lanes for most of that stretch and the shoulders are not very wide. The whole area was a mess with all of the highway traffic, support vans and pit stops. These Ragnar people need to get serious about their events and not be so reckless with their course selection. I hope the injured runner is able to recover. It is the race directors job to avoid such needlessly dangerous situations in the first place.

you dont get it wrote:

Ragnar vet, Really? You are waiting for someone else to "check" your safety? Are you serious? If you are waiting for someone to make you be safe you are the exact type of person that will take down this race and every other freedom we have left. People need to look in the mirror and own their shit!

Wow, two morons posting back to back. I guess you're too stupid to comprehend my post. I stated up front we're responsible for our own safety, yet THEY said they would be checking to make sure everyone had their saftey equipment, yet they didn't. Why do I bother arguing with fools?