Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Hood to Coast Race Report

Another Hood to Coast (HTC) has been completed; this was my 7th HTC and the 7th different leg I have run.  My long term goal for HTC is to run every leg; I would then honestly be able to say I've experienced the entire race.

Here are some stats:

Fastest Team Finish:                 17:24
Slowest Team Finish:                33:19
"Our" Team Finish:                   28:54

Our team (Van 1) started at Timberline Lodge at noon on Friday, August 27th; I was in Van 2 and we took over from Van 1 around 5:00 p.m. Friday afternoon in beautiful Sandy, Oregon.  I was running leg 10 so I had a while to wait for my first leg.  There are 6 runners per van so Van 1 runs legs 1-6, 13-18, and 25-30; this leaves Van 2 to run legs 7-12, 19-24 and 31-36.


Rea and I waiting at one of the exchanges during our first set of legs

Rob rocked the pink safety vest; his manhood remained intact
My goal for HTC was to run all my legs at an 8:30 pace; you could argue either that I failed or that I succeeded.  Here are the numbers:

Leg 10
6.18 miles
8:14 average pace

Leg 22
6.93 miles
8:20 average pace

Leg 34
4.11 miles
8:31 average pace

As you can see two of the three runs were less than an 8:30 pace, but one was very slightly over (8:31).  So, they were not all 8:30 or better, but the average was better than 8:30 :-)  I'm really mad at myself because on my third leg I walked a bit up one hill; had I not done this I would have gotten my sub-8:30's on all three legs.  I was really tired by this point and while this leg was the shortest of my legs, there were three hills; one at the beginning, one in the middle and one at the end.



If you've never run a relay, you can't appreciate how important porta potties become to you and how much you love the guys that keep them clean for you along the course

Post race at the beach, this guy ran dressed like this - you see it all at HTC!

I never saw these gals on the course, but they rocked it at the finish line.  By this time I had run 18+ miles, hadn't had any sleep and had consumed two beers; I was feeling no pain.  Obviously Andrew and Mark (from my team) enjoyed these ladies

Seaside, Oregon

A team mate of the dude in the earlier photo

Great music and cold beer; what more could you ask for?

This was taken at the last major exchange and is one of the "sleeping" areas; although not much sleeping happened here.
I can't wait for next year........happy running!

8 comments:

  1. Looks like you all had a lot of fun. I say go with the average of all three legs.

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  2. i say: success! i love the magic of averages :) i was really upset about my intervals last week, until i found that the average was in my goal range! woohoo!

    sounds like a fabulous time. i'm getting more intrigued by these relays...

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  3. Sounds like such a fun and exhausting experience! Congrats!!!

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  4. What a fun experience! I've never done a relay but need to!

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  5. Relays sounds like such a blast! I'd love to be part of one some day :)

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  6. Love all the pictures! It looks like you had an awesome time :) This year's Hood to Coast was my very first, and I absolutely loved it. HTC had been on my bucket list, and I definitely want to do it again.

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  7. Hi Kathy,
    OMG, I wish I could of been at this one! Those pictures are so awesome and I love how a few of the runners dressed:)

    You had some awesome times there Lady! You are so freaking fast! Congrats to you!

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  8. Great splits, must have been an amazing experience.

    I'm interested, I like running and all, but primarily because I'd feel pretty proud to be in the port-a-potty line with Superman.

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