Is relay running
in your Future?
by Pat Hughes
RaceCenter Northwest Magazine
April-May, 2006
Runners are often so excited about their
sport that they’ll attempt every distance from a
5k to a marathon, travel to races in far-flung locations,
and dedicate whole rooms to their neck-medal collection.
But if you haven’t done a relay, you haven’t
enjoyed one of the greatest highs of running.
“I’ve done a lot of marathons,”
says Eric Lerude of Reno, Nevada, “but I’ve
never enjoyed a run so much as the Hood to Coast. You
get punchy running all night, bonding with other runners
and it’s such a rush finishing with your team. The
logistical planning makes it both a mental and physical
challenge. ”
Hood to Coast is known as the granddaddy
of long distance relays, with 1,000 teams covering 197
miles from the top of Oregon's Mt. Hood down to the Pacific
Ocean. Eric loved it so much that he decided he had to
have one in his own back yard.
He spent two years doing research and in
2005 hosted the Reno-Tahoe Odyssey Relay Run Adventure.
Starting and finishing in downtown Reno, which is re-branding
itself as “America’s Adventure Place,”
the 178-mile race travels along the Truckee River, through
the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and along the shores of Lake
Tahoe. The loop course, unusual in relays, travels two
states, nine counties, high elevations (highest point
is 7,334 ft), and historic spots, including the trail
used by the infamous Donner Party and saloons frequented
by Mark Twain.
Eric, an attorney, quit his corporate post
and re-invented himself as a race director. He still practices
law while his race management company gets on its feet,
but he is pleased with the positive response to his first
race, and sees a bright future for relays.
“Some say relays are dying, and that’s
true where the race is in an out-of-the-way location,”
he said. “But I think they are thriving, and there
are more of them each year across the country. The Hood
to Coast turns away hundreds, sometimes a thousand, teams
a year. If there are another thousand teams looking for
a relay, there is a need for more relays.”
He likens the growth opportunity for smaller
relay events to the Starbucks Coffee Company’s impact
on small, independent coffee houses. “Starbucks
has grown the number of coffee drinkers across the board.
Starbucks is doing fine; they’re still number one,
but the smaller houses are also doing better because the
market as a whole has grown, so everyone wins. Hood to
Coast is like Starbucks, and other relays that are smaller
and less formal have an opportunity to work with them
and each other to grow the whole pot.”
The Reno-Tahoe run has already registered
the same number of teams as last year—36—including
two international teams. “Everyone gets the bug
and wants to do it again,” Eric says. “I’m
expecting all my teams to return and to meet many new
ones.”
Most relays cost about $1,000 for a team
of twelve participants. A team captain manages registration
and logistics, including who is running which of the 30-odd
legs and who is sleeping at any given moment. Teams usually
provide their own vans and safety gear, including flashlights,
first aid kits, reflective vests, food, and water. Almost
all relays end with a beer party and entertainment at
the finish line.
Hood to Coast (HTC) celebrates its 25th
year this summer. The 196-mile relay features 12,000 runners,
is the longest running event in Oregon, and the longest
major relay in North America. The race starts at Timberline
Lodge (elevation 6,000 feet) at the base of Oregon's tallest
mountain, Mt. Hood, and finishes on the shores of the
Pacific Ocean, in Seaside, Oregon.
“This year we’re planning a
multitude of extras to celebrate our 25-year accomplishment,”
said HTC President and Founder Bob Foote. “These
include a special race shirt which commemorates all 25
years of the event, displaying memorabilia from all the
years, honoring long-term participants.”
The event has partner events including the
Portland to Coast Walk and the Portland to Coast High
School Challenge. Each race is set up for both serious
runners and fitness walkers to casual teams just out to
enjoy the adventure. Getting into Hood to Coast is probably
the most difficult part of the race: registration begins
on a specific day in October, ten months prior to the
race, and usually fills that very day.
Bob said the biggest factor in the success
of HTC has been the extraordinary level of detail given
to executing each race. “Every participant has an
incredible, never-to-be-forgotten experience from the
event’s start at Timberline Lodge to its finish,
which is the biggest beach party ever held on the West
Coast.”
If you can’t make the HTC, head north
to the Rainier to Pacific Relay. Now in its 18th year,
R2P is 153 miles long, made up of 33 legs varying from
three to seven miles. It starts at Mt. Rainier and travels
through some of the most beautiful areas of Washington.
This year, race director Jack Lawson is trying to increase
excitement with a $10,000 challenge to former relay
teams from Hood to Coast (see "Cash
Incentives").
For a race earlier in the season, head to southern California
for the Wild Miles Adventure Relay. With 150 teams of
five or ten members, the Wild Miles race takes you 183
miles from the desert floor in Borrego Springs at Palm
Canyon resort to a rousing finish in Pine Valley, CA.
Along the way, 30 legs cover all types of terrain and
range from three miles to a full half marathon along the
Grapevine route.
Other races in Colorado, Wisconsin and New
Hampshire have cropped up in the last few years, offering
opportunities to travel, run, and maybe look up an old
friend—or eleven old friends to form a full team.
Relay running is a party from start to finish, with the
giddiness of a sleep over, the physical challenge of logging
up to 20 miles in a day, and the warm fuzzies of pulling
together as a team. Perhaps it’s time to add a relay
to your list of running accomplishments.
Several Western Region Relays
The Relay
April 8-8, 2006
www.therelay.com
Wild Miles
April 29-30, 2006
www.inmotionevents.com
Sawtooth Relay
June 10, 2006
www.sawtoothrelay.com
Reno-Tahoe Odyssey Relay Run Adventure
July 7-8, 2006
www.renotahoeodyssey.com
Rainier to Pacific Relay
July 21-22, 2006
www.eventmgnt.com
Hood to Coast
August 25-26, 2006
www.hoodtocoast.com
Cash Incentives
Rainier to Pacific has issued a challenge to Hood to Coast
runners: come to R2P in 2006 and qualify for $10,000 in
prize money. One hundred teams will form this special
category. The fastest four teams will split the purse:
1st - $4,000, 2nd - $2,500, 3rd - $2,000, 4th $1,500,
as well as receive special wall plaques and neck medals.
To qualify, teams need only to have to run the Hood to
Coast sometime in its 25-year history and run in this
year’s R2P.
Why the incentive? Race director Jack Lawson
says he’s never one to turn down a challenge. “For
the last several years, some of our teams also have run
Hood to Coast, and they reported that HTC runners consider
Rainier to Pacific as a small, no-account event. Obviously,
that caused a reaction leading to this challenge.”
In addition to the special category of HTC/R2P
teams, Jack will raffle off an additional $5,000 for each
100 teams that enter. The prize will be awarded to the
team with the winning lottery ticket at the awards ceremony.
R2P typically draws about 150 teams, and
Jack has already received lots of interest in his challenge.
“Offering a cash prize for a recreational race hasn’t
been tried before,” he said. “We think it
will work, and we look forward to having more runners
at our well-managed event.”
Naming Your Relay Team
Half the fun of participating in a relay is coming up
with a goofy name. Names range from drab to inspirational,
from plays-on-words to potty-humor. Below is a list of
some of the more interesting ones we found in a random
search.
Frequently team names indicate they are
just proud to be out there, having fun and giving it their
best:
