Not the Boston Marathon

Move over Boston Marathoners: there’s a bigger race in town.

Today, participants of the Ragnar Relay will embark on an overnight team race across 200(ish) miles of the scenic New England coast, starting with the Long Island Sound, moving north along the Connecticut coast line, and finally wrapping up sometime Saturday near Harvard.

Members in teams of 12 will take turns running three-to-eight-mile legs of the course, while the other 11 follow alongside in team vehicles — runners riding four to five hours in the car before hopping out to run for an hour or so. The Ragnar motto, “Run, Ride, Sleep, Repeat,” is plastered along the course and frequently repeated for motivation among teammates.

Teamwork is one of the relay’s main attractions, co-founder Tanner Bell said to USA Today. “This is an adventure where people go out and conquer something that they couldn’t have done by themselves,” Bell said. “Being able to run 200 miles with a team, something generally people couldn’t do on their own, and being able to do that with close friends, is priceless,” she said before adding that there’s been a huge increase of interest since the race was founded in 2004,and participation this year has increased about 70 percent over 2009.

Another main attraction? The swag. Ragnar promises “sick medals” for all finishers, tees for all participants, stickers, and awards for division winners and creativity (think decorated vehicle, costumes, and team name), and a “rocking finish line party.”

Lindsay Tucker is a contributor to Boston Daily.