Hood to Coast Relay — Update #2 — Seaside

One of the most last memories of this year’s Hood to Coast Relay was watching my van-mates, most of whom are extremely accomplished runners, hop around peg-legged like a bunch of first-time marathon runners. The accompanying sound, “ouch, ouch, ouch”, which each step really drove it home. Hood to Coast puts a special beating on the legs. Three hard running efforts, hours sitting in a van, little sleep, little to eat. The quads freeze up like a pair of rusty old tractor parts. As I write this, I’m sitting with my legs elevated, to help with the pain myself.

Runner on Road

The race ran smoothly this year for the most part. One notable exception was the grid-lock of vans that happened at the last major van exchange — exchange 30. I happened to be the runner one our team and as I came running down toward the exchange, I came upon the tail end of the line of vans. There’s always a line of vans coming into this exchange, so that wasn’t surprising. The surprise was that I was more than two miles from the exchange. When I past our team van, I thought, “no biggie”, I would just wait for them to get through the traffic at the bottom because we were done running for the day. When I past our other van (van 2), I thought, “huh, that’s not good.” About a quarter mile further down the road, I recognized two of my teammates running along. They had our iPhone (used to collect split times) and they handed it off to me. When I reached the exchange zone, I stood with a number of other runners waiting alone for someone to hand the baton.

In our case, it was only a delay of about four or five minutes. But I’m sure other teams spent much more time waiting there. Grid lock does happen at Hood to Coast sometimes and this year it happened at the last major van exchange.

I have to say that something about the race was a little low-key this year. Most of my favorites were there. Teams like the Go NADS (for North American Distance Sprinters) and the Hot Tamales. But there seemed to be a little less festive mood in the exchange zones. There was more sleeping and less dancing going on.

Be sure to click the READ MORE button for to see photos from the race. See also Update #1 which has more photos from the Hood to Coast Relay.

Perhaps the teams are taking the running a little more seriously. Rankings are, after all, important, because they do have an impact on whether teams get invited back or need to re-apply through the over-subscribed lottery system. Earlier in the year I recall seeing a press release from a team that was infuriated that they had been rejected from the lottery after 20 plus years participating in the race. But as the grid lock on the course shows, the race can only accommodate so many vans.

Every Hood to Coast has a little bit different feel. The mild weather to chilly weather this year may have set the tone a bit for me. Whatever it was, Hood to Coast remains one of my favorite races for the pounding, the competitive spirit and the friendship that is only display.

Now, as I did in my previous update, I’ll let a few photos do some of the work and share 1,000 words each. Here are a few of my favorite photos from Hood To Coast 2010.

Selected Photos from the Hood To Coast Relay 2010

Traversing Through the Fields

Sleeping Runners And Vans

Waiting to Make an Exchange

Catching Some Rays at Hood To Coast

Runners on Road

Image — Runners on the side of the road make their way through the Coast Range.

Staying Warm in Truck

Higher Math

Coach Joe English, Portland Oregon, USA
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