2013 HOOD TO COAST RECAP, PART I

Team Saved By The Cowbell (sans Teena and Bryan) at the first major exchange in Sandy.

My first Hood to Coast is in the books and it was a TON of fun. Honestly it was a lot more fun than I expected it to be! My team had a blast and I ran really well. The whole event was just basically one big moving party. I guess I just didn't realize the camaraderie between teams and the celebratory atmosphere that encompassed the whole course. A very unique and awesome running experience you can't really get any other way.

Our van met around noon Friday at our team captain's house. I knew two of the people on my team pretty well and then had met the other three real quick at a dinner one time. The first van started the race at 10:30am up on Mount Hood but wouldn't be done until about 4pm in Sandy. We decorated our van (still kicking myself for not getting a picture) and made goody bags for the volunteers in addition to generally getting ready. We then drove to the Sandy Safeway, where the first major exchange would take place. I saw so many people I knew at that exchange it was crazy. If you weren't doing Hood to Coast this weekend, you were definitely being left out!

Van One flew through their stages, which were mostly downhill, so we ended up being about twenty minutes ahead of pace by the time they rolled in. I was running Leg 7, so I would be the first one in my van out to run. I had no idea what my Leg 6 runner looked like, so when she came running in and they announced our team (#806) I had to check the bib on her just to make sure, haha.

Me during my first leg. They were telling me
to slow down for the pic (yeah right!)

I was definitely nervous on that first leg. I felt the same way I do when I was running a race! I really thought the multiple leg relay format would make me care less, but honestly it didn't. I still wanted to run hard and do my best. Unfortunately about 200 feet into my run I got stopped at a crosswalk for about a minute. D'oh! Once that light turned green though, I was off! My first mile clocked in at 7:08. Excited much?

That first leg ended up being a little more challenging than I thought due to the rolling hills, but not too bad. The hills weren't the problem, the pace I wanted to go at was the issue. While I wasn't going totally balls out like I would for a 10k, I was still going pretty darn fast. My goal was to average under 8:00/mile on each leg and this first leg was clocking in around 7:40/mile. I figured I should build some cushion as my body would get even more tired.

Anyways, nothing too special to note on that first leg. Some people were out in their yards with hoses spraying us or set up sprinklers we could run through, so that was fun. Before I knew it the leg was over and I handed off the "baton" (slap braclet) to my teammate.

Leg Seven ("Hard"): 6.32 miles in 48:33. 7:40/mile.

Then came the authentic relay race experience. Racing from exchange to exchange, cheering on runners as you passed them on the road (cowbells!), stopping along the side of the road to cheer people on and provide support to your own runners. Taking in hitchhikers at exchange points whose vans were having issues and needed to get to the next leg. Just one big giant rolling party pretty much. Good times. We cheered all our runners on and finished sometime around 8:30pm just as it was getting dark.

Our team had the luxury of stopping off at our teammate Stephanie's house, which was on the way to the next exchange point. So instead of stopping in a field and passing the time there, we got to shower off, eat dinner (she made pasta) and then try to catch some winks on the couch/beds. It was awesome! Needless to say, I didn't catch any sleep. We tried to sleep from 10:30pm to midnight, but I wasn't tired yet, so I mostly just laid there with my eyes closed. Eventually we were on the the road again to the next exchange point to meet Van One.

My next leg started around 2:40am. I can't really explain how crazy it is to be running at 2:40am with a bunch of other people. Luckily there were always runners in sight. The race didn't really get spread out like I thought, so while it was dark, you never felt alone. There was always some blinking light ahead of you to catch up to.

Since I don't have an actual picture from my second leg,
this will have to suffice. Looked about like this.

Honestly, this was my favorite part of the race. I was running in the middle of nowhere in the forest on some narrow curvy road at three in the morning. It was the definition of crazy and it was so much fun! This leg was definitely hard, my legs still felt good, but it was even hillier than my first leg. It ended up being my biggest "roadkill" run as I caught and passed 13 people along the way (I had 32 on all three legs). I don't remember a ton about this leg other than I was really sucking wind from the hills (mostly uphill) and couldn't really see where I was going. I was carrying a flashlight, so I just tried to find the pavement and keep charging forward.

Leg Nineteen ("Very Hard"): 5.89 miles in 47:05. 7:59/mile.

After getting done with my leg around 3:30am I amazingly still felt pretty awake (I did just run, so that makes sense). Anyways, I was having a fun time cheering on the rest of our runners and being part of the sea of vans snaking our way towards the ocean. I didn't really get tired until Libbie's leg started and it was getting light outside. Luckily, when she was done our van handed off to Van One and we went on a mission to get some rest.

To be continued with Part II tomorrow!