Survive Hood to Coast: check.

In case you don't know, Hood to Coast is the world's largest relay race. Twelve hundred teams run from Mt. Hood to Seaside, a total of 197 miles. Entry is a competitive sport in and of itself and I was lucky enough to have a friend who made this year's cut. I'd originally only offered to volunteer, but since I was training for the July 4th half marathon and it was probably a once in a lifetime opportunity, I mentioned that I'd be an alternate if needed. Lucky for me, I was needed.*

Even luckier for me, I got the easiest legs of the race. And the shortest. And some of the prettiest, too. I got to run down the road that leads to Timberline Lodge (of The Shining fame) with views of Mt. Hood and Mt. Adams in the distance and lovely wildflowers lining the road. I got to run along the Willamette River in scenic downtown Portland. And I got to run through Mist, OR as the sun was rising and the mist was clearing. Despite running and then sitting for eight hours until my next run, and despite getting a total of about four hours of sleep over a 40-hour period, and despite my lack of training post-half marathon run, I kept my predicted pace and was able to drive us all back to Portland afterward. And I was able to walk (fairly) pain-free the next day.

However. The last third of the race was a total shit show. Somehow they messed up logistics on traffic, and we found ourselves dropping off runners at one spot, heading to the next drop-off point 5-6 miles up the road, and watching our runner blow past our van as we sat in miles and miles of traffic. My last leg was supposed to be in the dark through Mist, but because of the delays I didn't end up running in the dark (which I was a little disappointed about - I mean, when else am I going to run on a back country road at 4:30am?). On our van's last leg we ended up handing our runner "the clipboard" (the one set of papers we used to track time that would need to be turned in at the end of the race) as he passed us, and he ran for a mile holding the clipboard so that the runner in the other van wouldn't have to wait an hour for us to arrive. We also had to wait for about an hour and a half at the end for the rest of the other van to arrive so that we could all cross the finish line together.

But we all finished (fairly) injury free, I spent 40 hours in a van with four total strangers and a distant coworker and we all got along (fairly) well, and I can say I participated in the world's largest relay race.

I never need to do it AGAIN, but I participated. And survived. Check.

not our shirts

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* Lest you think I'm callous for being happy about someone being injured and having to drop out, the guy I replaced ended up recovering just fine and replacing someone else who got injured. Win win! Er... win win lose.