Looking for a Rufous

It’s Hood to Coast 2019

I recently ran a relay in Oregon, the Hood to Coast Relay. For runners and walkers it’s a big deal – in the words of the race organizers, “the mother of all relays”. Feel free to Google it to get the full spiel, or check out Wikipedia’s narrative, especially if you run, but here’s my 25-words or less description.

• 1200 teams
• 12 runners, each running 3 legs
• 2 vans (6 runners in each van)
• Total distance 199 miles
• Very little sleep
• Little real food

The first van with six runners starts at Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood, the first leg of the 36 legs in the relay. Already it’s a party atmosphere with vans looking for parking places, van captains checking in at the registration tent, loud music, long lines at the porta-cans, friends greeting friends on other teams, and pictures being taken. The announcer up on his perch above the crowds, calls out the team names when it’s their turn to start. Some of my favorite team names are:

• Blood Sweat and Beers
• Minnesota Sole Sisters
• Scrambled Legs and Hamstrings
• It’s Five O’clock Somewhere
• Crazy Lactic Acid Rich Asians
• Coast Encounters of the Hood Kind

Off and Running

Donna, our leg 1 runner takes off at 9:00 a.m. sharp, running her heart out, down that big hill leading to the next exchange.

The average team takes about 30 hours to finish the relay, traversing a wide variety of roads and terrain to reach Seaside, Oregon. Many of the legs provide breathtaking views of mountains and valleys, other legs meander through the suburbs around Portland and through Portland, into the Coast Range where rivers streams course along the roads, providing a distraction from the physical effort needed to run or walk. As a 20-plus year veteran of the relay, I take the scenic sights for granted while still appreciating the physical beauty of where I live.

What’s with the main heading, Bingle, Bangle, Bongle? As it happens, teams sometimes have to replace runners who are injured or have other situations preventing them from being on the team. In our case, one of the women on our team pulled a hamstring muscle. I recruited a new runner and Don, who had been in our van 1, was moved to van 2. Later for various reasons he was moved back to van 1, but before the dust settled and we figured it all out he was back in van 2. Good naturedly, he took it all in stride (so to speak).

Party at the Beach

At the beach, we ran across the finish line as a team, and wandered around with the multitudes celebrating the end of one of the most amazing athletic events imaginable. Later at our hotel, we made s’mores over an open fire, had some drinks, and collapsed from a very full two days.