RACE RECAP: Hood to Coast Relay 2010

Hood to Coast was amazing! It had been on my bucket list, and this year I lucked out because a group of friends had put together a team and invited me to run with them.

The official race t-shirt and medal. Pretty sweet!

Our team van. We basically lived in there for two days!

Leg 1
5.64 miles
Timberline Lodge to Government Camp

In my tutu at Timberline.

It was really exciting being the first runner! Being at the starting line at Timberline was such an adrenaline rush because they announce which teams are starting, and countdown to your start (our team's start time was 12:45pm). However, this leg was rough. Check out the elevation change--nearly 2000 feet over 5.64 miles. CONSTANT DOWNHILL.

Downhill sounds nice, but it is really hard on your legs. My calves started knotting up around mile 2, and stayed that way for the entire relay. :( But the run was gorgeous and I really enjoyed the view.

After our van was done with our first 6 legs, we went to a van-mate's house for a spaghetti dinner and to get clean. We definitely felt much better after some real food and a shower!

At one of the many exchanges during the first 6 legs! The weather was perfect.

Leg 13
4.67 miles
Portland Waterfront

My second leg started around 10:30pm. I was really glad that I was running my night leg in a familiar place: the Portland waterfront! This leg was tough mentally and physically for me. My legs were tired and my calves and quads were tight. The entire run, I just hoped to finish close to my expected time. I didn't want to let down my van!

After I finished running, I slept as much as possible in the van. We stopped at St. Helens High School to shower, and then we went to the Exchange 24 sleeping area to sleep for a few hours before I had to start the 3rd round.

It was cold in that field!

Leg 25
3.75 miles
Mist to Birkenfeld

This leg was nice and short. But my legs were super tight. Like Leg 13, I just wanted to finish in my expected time. I was really tired and couldn't wait to be finished running! I really gave it my all as I headed toward the exchange and handed off the wristband. It felt really good to be done!

Finish line and post-race
Our team finished in 28 hours and 22 minutes! We were so glad to have been able to finish. The finish area had a beer garden, free Powerade and vitaminwater zero, and music playing.

Thoughts about the race itself:

• Overall, I thought that the race was well run, and volunteers did a great job!
  
• This race helps restore faith in humanity--the kindness and support of random people (spectators, other teams) was really inspiring.
  
• You can and will see anything and everything. 
• The smell of Honey Bucket hand sanitizer is terrible.
• Sleep whenever and wherever you can. Even an hour feels great.
• Exchange 30 is a mad house.
  

Thoughts about my personal race experience:

• When you're stuck in a van with 5 other smelly people, it helps to be really laid back. My van-mates were awesome and I was lucky to be in a van with them!
  
• I won't pack so much stuff next time! Click here for my suggested packing list.
• In some ways, I feel like Hood to Coast was harder than my first marathon! On paper, it doesn't look too bad--three legs totalling 14-20 miles, over 20-30 hours. But lack of sleep, lack of homecooked food, being crammed in a van, and tough legs make this a very challenging experience both mentally and physically.

Would I do this again? Absolutely. I've even started talking about van decorations and stuff!

Has anyone else done Hood to Coast, or some other relay? How was it? :)