Hood to Coast Relay 2010

Last weekend I ran the hood to coast relay for the 18th time.

Even though the newness has long since worn off, I still really enjoy the race. So I thought I’d tell you about it.

Leapin’ Lizards (Van 1), Hood to Coast Relay.

On the off chance that you haven’t heard about the race, I’ll set out the format. The race is 200 miles long and run from Timberline lodge on Mount Hood to Seaside Oregon on the Pacific Ocean. Teams of twelve runners tackle the hilly terrain.

The stroke of genius which has made this race famous is the notion that each team member will run three times over the course of 24 hours or so. The resultant sleep deprivation and logistical challenges inherent in moving your runners to their next leg has lead to huge popularity for the race.

The race is capped at 1000 teams and it fills up in one day in October. Each team has to shell out over $1000 to race the following August. Each year the organizers turn away hundreds of teams. This year there were teams from as far away as New Zealand.

I was the captain of a team called Leapin’ Lizards in honor of my running club, team red lizard. We were a mixed gender team and we competed in the sub master’s category. This meant that everyone on the team was at least 30 years old. Of course some of us were significantly older.

Two years ago we had won the category and last year we were 2nd to a team called the Slug hunters. Both teams were back this year. Teams start in waves of 15 to 20. The first wave starts at 6:30 in the morning. The last and fastest teams head out at 6:45 PM. We started at 6:30 PM in 2nd last wave with the Slug Hunters.

One of the strengths of our team is our first runner Andi Camp. The very first leg drops 2000 feet in just over 5 miles and Andi has mastered the running of this leg like few others. She always gives our team a fast start and this year was no different. But it’s a long race.

Most teams divide their runners into two van loads of six. Our first van was well matched to our opponents and the two teams went back and forth over the first six legs. I was runner number 7 and the first runner in the 2nd van.

As I was warming up and waiting my turn, we heard that our number 5 guy had passed their fifth. About 10 minutes before our 6th runner was due in, I headed over to the exchange zone to wait for him. I found bad news waiting there for me.

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The slug hunter’s 7th runner was a gal I knew well. Her name is Hallie and she is 15-20 years younger than me and substantially faster. I knew that I was over matched and a little worried about it.

Their 6th guy passed ours about ¼ mile from the end of the leg and the two runners came into the exchange zone scant seconds apart.

Since it was 10 PM and the roads aren’t closed for the race, we all had to wear reflective vests, front and back blinking lights and carry a flashlight.

Virna Darling on her last leg,
Hood to Coast Relay.

As I started my leg, I focused on Hallie’s taillight. It kept pulling away from me and into the darkness. Before too long her taillight disappeared form view. I felt like I had let my team down and it was a very dark time for me. But I didn’t wallow in self pity for too long.

Soon I spied another taillight up ahead and this one was getting closer. I ceased any negative thoughts and got back into racing mode. A few minutes later some guy passed me and told me I was one rocking chick. He sounded sincere. I was going to be OK.

It soon became clear that the Slug hunters van 2 runners were faster than ours and they put almost 10 minutes on us over those 6 legs. The race for our division was over.

But there were other teams to race. Over the next several hours we went back and forth with 3 men’s teams that had started the race with us. We wound up beating two of those three teams to the finish line.

But my favorite race this year came with a mixed master’s team called the Brew Bunnies.The bunnies had taken their name from the now defunct Fluffy Bunny track club out of southern California. The bunnies only had one runner from the club but he was a prominent one. David Olds is a former 2:12 marathoner and a well known naked Nike pitchman.

Most of their current team consists of Club Northwest runners. David Cannon, Karen Steen, Kelly Kruell and Christina Ashby joined Dave Olds in their 2nd van. The Club Northwesters are all good people as well as terrific runners so it made for an enjoyable race.

Most of their runners wore little bunny tails when they ran and bunny ears when they weren’t running. Karen was actually wearing a full bunny costume when I saw her first at a grocery store prior to our first legs.

The bunnies had started at 6:45 but came within a whisker of making up that time within the first rotation. However, we were able to run even with them for most of the rest of the race, so it felt pretty good to us.

Both teams were waiting for our next runner at exchange 10 just past midnight when I first got introduced to David Olds. I told him he looked different with clothes on. He smiled weakly and replied “you probably think that you’re funny but I get that a lot”.

My house is only a couple miles off of the course in Portland so our van went there after our first legs for showers and a brief nap. We were soon out on the road to start our 2nd legs.

My 2nd leg (leg 19) was a killer. It consisted of 6 hilly miles with a 2 miles long hill at the end of it. And I got to run it at 5 in the morning in the dark and the cold. I actually wore gloves for a race in August.

Shortly after I handed off, the sun came up. This is always one of the finest times in the race. At that point we were getting into the “mountains” of the Oregon coastal range and the landscape is incredible.

Joanna Harper near the end of her
3rd leg, Hood to Coast Relay.

And the bunnies were still behind us. Dave Cannon passed our 10th runner Christophe on leg 22 but our number 12 runner Chuck Coats caught Karen on leg 24. Chuck handed the baton off to Andi and our van went to a local high school for showers and some rest. The bunnies went there too.

My next leg started right at high noon. My last leg, leg 31 was a mostly downhill carry that cruelly ends with a gradual ¾ mile hill. I got through my last leg and then I was gloriously finished.

The last several legs are on narrow country roads and the van traffic is atrocious. But since I am a wily veteran of the race, I know how to make the best of it. We got our runners through those legs without incident when many other teams had real problems.

David Olds passed our runner on leg 33 and the bunnies had 3 minutes (plus 15) on us going into leg 35. That leg is over 7 miles long and our runner bonked. The bunnies stretched their gap over us to such an extent that even the speedy Chuck had no chance to catch them.

We finished the race in 21:18. That is 21 hours and 18 minutes.

We were two minutes faster than last year and mostly happy with our race.

The race finishes on the beach in Seaside and it is always a zoo.

Chuck & Chritpohe sportin' their lizards &
watching for our runner.

We got out of there quickly enough and retired to our rented beach house a couple of miles away. There is a huge post race party but I prefer to hang out with my team mates at our place instead.

In fact one of my best memories of this year’s race was watching the sun set into the Pacific Ocean. We were sitting out behind the house drinking adult beverages and telling each other stories about our races. Life really doesn’t get much better than that.

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