In a Nutshell: Hood to Coast 2016

This year, our team got another spot for the Hood to Coast Relay. It's a 12-person relay that starts at the top of Mt. Hood. Each team member runs various lengths of miles, anywhere from 3-7 miles. They take turns running from Mt. Hood to Seaside, OR. We started Friday morning. It was a beautiful day. In fact, the weather was really warm that day. By the time our last runners were finished, the weather was in the 70's to 80's. When we passed off to the other team, it was getting close to the 90's. The other van had to run in the hotter hours. But they did great and got through it. After our first set of legs, we stopped at Jeff's parent's house for rest, food and showers. Then we were on our way to meet up with Van 2 for our second set of legs. This year I ran leg 3. The first leg wasn't too bad, but my second leg was over 7 miles. I knew that one would be tough. I was glad when it was over. When our van was done with our second set of legs, we drove to the next major exchange and got a couple hours of sleep. Then we all got up, met Van 2 and started running our 3rd legs. It's always such a good feeling to get the 3rd legs over with and know you are done! But when our last runner finished his last leg, we looked around and Van 2 was no where to be found. And we had no cell reception, so we couldn't call them to ask where they were. So we just waited. And we ended up waiting an hour! That was a bit frustrating. They apparently had not allowed enough time to get to the major exchange point and had been stuck in traffic. After we passed off to Van 2, we drove into Seaside and ate breakfast. Then we drove to the finish line and waited for Van 2 to arrive. While waiting, we walked around a bit. Once Van 2 arrived, we crossed the finish line together. We all were so happy to be done. It's a long haul, yet we all love doing it, and we will definitely try to get a team for next year!