Hood To Coast Relay!!

Last weekend I competed in the Hood To Coast Relay! Just to give you a little background about the relay, it is known as "The Mother of All Relays" and claims to be the biggest one in the world. It is 197 miles starting at Mt. Hood and ending in Seaside (the coast). We had 12 people on our team, but we were split into two vans. I was runner #3, so I was in van 1. Our team started at 7:30am and it was 35 degrees on Mt. Hood!

The legs I ran were not as hilly as some of the other legs, but mine were a little longer distance (I could have prepared a little more for them haha). I started running my first leg at 9am and it was 3.93mi. It was all down hill, so I was able to finish in about 30 minutes. After van 1 finished we were 2 hours ahead of schedule! We had a break for about 4 hours while van 2 was running so we had a nice lunch break and Du's Grill downtown.

 After some much needed food and a change of clothes we were back on the road to start running again. Tiffany was runner #1 and she is the one who invited me to join the team. Our team was made up of mostly her cousins and a few friends, but it was really fun to meet new people and run with them. I started my 2nd leg around 7:00pm and this was my longest 7.25mi. This leg took me about 1:13hr. I wasn't too sore to start out the run but by the end my legs and hip flexors were feeling it! While I was running the sun was setting and it was perfect temp to be outside. When I finished it was totally dark, and I'm glad I finished before I had to wear a head lamp.

That night we parked the van at the second van exchange and expected that van 2 would meet us around 4am. We all slept in the van and I think that is the last time I will do that! It was so uncomfortable and just thinking about the air in there makes me kinda sick haha! Luckily for me van 2 was an hour early so I didn't have to sleep anymore, but Tiffany had to hurry and warm up for her 3:30am jog!

I started my final leg around 5am and it was 5.79mi. I was so stiff from being in the van and running the day before I could barely get going for my 3rd leg. I decided to take this leg easy and run 5 minutes then walk 5 minutes. I ended up making a friend while running so we finished the leg together and it was nice to talk and run with someone who is in as much pain as you! By the time we finished our leg it was light out but still pretty chilly. I was so happy that I made it through, but I couldn't believe how sore I was. At the time I was thinking that this was my first and last Hood to Coast, but I can't wait til next year to make a team! (So if you want to join the team next year let me know!!)

 This was the final van exchange and the people who own the house had a little snack bar that they ran out of their garage and a designated sleeping area. Van 1 was so happy to be done with their leg and we were excited to get to the coast. Before we hit the road we had to rub our legs a little bit, but it almost hurt me more than it felt good.

We finally made it to the coast and the finish line was on the beach. It was basically a giant party on the beach with a band and vendors everywhere. We hung out there for awhile and when the final runner from our team was done we crossed the finish line together!

We were all so tired but had to pose for one last team photo!

 

Chase was able to drive all the way out to the coast and meet us in Seaside. Im so glad he came! It was nice to be around someone new and someone you actually aren't sick of. I wasn't sick of my team but being in a van with 6 other people for over 24 hour was enough for me! 

I had SO much fun running Hood to Coast and anyone that knows me knows that running is not my specialty, but I can't wait to make a team for next year!!