Why I Do This Craziness

For many people, the relays that are Hood to Coast and Portland to Coast are an eternal mystery. You may wonder why on earth tens of thousands of people would put themselves through that kind of abuse. Well, I'll tell you.

Because it's AWESOME! Seriously! It is by far the most fun I have ever had...my year practically revolves around it.

This was my third year participating, and second year captaining a team. It says something by itself that I have been involved for three years, with no plans to stop. What is it, you ask? It's a 127 mile walking relay. We have a 12 person team, each person walks a leg in rotation, two rotations. Totals range from just over 7 miles up to just over 13 miles. It's not much until you factor in the intense sleep deprivation and the fast paced nature of the event. 

This is a massive event. There are 400 walking teams and 1000 running teams (the running teams do three rotations each and total 197 miles). There are also 50 high school teams. Each team provides three volunteers. This brings the total to well over 15, 000 people involved. It is the largest relay event in the entire world. There were teams from every state in the US and 23 foreign countries. People come from New Zealand, Asia and Europe to participate. 

We are very much a "come as you are team", meaning we welcome anyone who wants to do it. I love that about our team, and our unofficial motto is "you're only competing against yourself". Yes, we're not contenders, but we actually kicked our own butts this year and beat our predicted time by 1:20 (that's one hour, twenty minutes). We were amazed! 

So, why, you might ask? Because it's FUN! OK, so it's not everyone's idea of fun, but seeing as how there are so many participants, there must be a lot of people who agree with me!

We started at 3:00 AM this year. We finished in just over 30 hours. We aren't the fastest team on the block, but we're not the slowest, either. We fall just about in the middle of our division. 

The walking is only part of the fun. W e do train for six months (some of us longer) working to improve our times and endurance. But the athletic aspect is not the real reason we do this. We do it because of the relationships.

Which is what makes the world go 'round, really.

This is the second year together for most of us, and the third year together for four of us. The friendships, the fun, the goofiness, the community, the hilarity, the pain, the gastrointestinal upset, the sweat...it's all shared among friends. We are cooped up with the same people for over 24 hours, without a break, we work our asses off, we suffer together....and in the end we love each other more and have stronger relationships because of it. I like to call it a party on wheels. Yes, sometimes we end up yelling at each other, because there is little sleep to be had. But it's all water under the bridge in the end, when our last walker crosses the finish line. 

Sleep deprivation is a major factor, but it's also one of the things that lends itself so readily to the amazing sense of personal accomplishment in the end. Thursday night I slept two hours. Friday afternoon I slept two hours. Friday night I slept three hours. This is why it's so challenging. The distance isn't that hard...it's doing the distance as fast as you can, twice, on almost no sleep.

And many of you think we're entirely loco. That's good for me, because the race fills up every year as it is...we don't need any more teams! 

Captaining a team is it's own rewarding/frustrating combination. Organizing the team, the planning, the supplies, the volunteers, the vans and the lodging are all hardcore, especially in August. Problem solving keeps me awake at night. However, there is nothing like seeing the first teammate cross the start and feeling the electric excitement in the air. There is NOTHING like seeing the team cross the finish together and knowing my role in making this a successful and memorable experience for so many people. One of our two new teammates this year said it was one of the best weekends of her entire life (and she's about as much of a "spring chicken" as I am, so that's saying a lot)!!!

So now, on to planning for 2011...I get about a month off and we will have our first meeting the first week of October.

I CAN'T WAIT to do it all again!