Anyway, she sent me a message explaining that there was a new relay race course being tested out on Mt. Hood the next day and she needed another teammate. The course was from Timberline Lodge to Waterfront Park in Hood River, Oregon... and it started the next morning at 7:00am!
The next day was Sunday so Corky would be off and could spend the day with Mara. The cost was affordable - it was free! I'd never run a relay before and thought it sounded like fun. So of course I jumped at the chance! It was truly an awesome experience. The course was BEAUTIFUL, the weather was amazing and the people were all so nice. I could not ask for a better experience for my first relay.
The next morning I met Teresa and her husband at the gym at 5:15am.
(Can I just take a moment to say that I absolutely LOVED driving at that time? It took me nearly five whole minutes before I saw another car on the road! The trip to the gym normally would take me about 15 minutes. I completed it in 8!)
They pulled in next to me and Teresa petitely hopped out of their silver SUV, coming around to greet me. I left my car in the parking lot there and we caravanned to the other side of the city to pick up our 3rd team member, Joe, a tall, athletic guy with an easy smile. Joe folded himself neatly into the backseat beside me and off we went.
The drive was a snap. No traffic of course, since most people weren't even awake yet! We made small talk on the trip up and I ate my breakfast of 4 BelVita breakfast biscuits that I had snagged from Mara's snack basket in the pantry that morning.
Joe and Teresa explained to me how the relay worked. Teresa's husband would drive their car and whichever two of us weren't running to the next exchange point, coming back to check on the runner periodically an offer water and support. We would each be running 4 legs, since there were 12 legs total and we only had 3 people. Most of the other teams had 6. We decided we weren't going to stress too much about pace and just focus on finishing the race.
As we neared Mt. Hood, the scenery began to change. The road starting climbing up and up and the trees grew taller and taller. We all commented how grateful we were that this race was going down Mt. Hood and not up it. We took the turn-off for Timberline lodge and the summit of majestic Mt. Hood came into view.
It doesn't look nearly as tall and impressive in photos
as it does in real life! Mt. Hood, summit elev. 11,250 feet
We hopped out of the car and made a bee-line for the coordinator's van, where we handed in our waivers and received a yellow "Runner on Road" sign. We had time to stop for a quick group photo and then Joe, who was running the first leg, had to report to the starting line.
It was cold! About 37 degrees F.
As soon as Joe took off running, we all hopped back into the car and headed down the mountain. Despite Joe saying he would take it easy, Teresa knew Joe would be down the mountain to Government Camp, our first exchange point, in no time. As we started down, we passed Joe, already about 500 feet ahead of the 2nd place runner. We cheered him on, complete with the ringing of a cowbell, and continued down, the thud thud thud of Joe's footfalls fading behind us.
Car selfie!
At the exchange point we waited for Joe, feeling grateful for the fact that there were public restrooms at this location. Since this race was the first of it's kind and it was really just a test run, there weren't any port-a-potties along the route. So everyone utilized bathrooms at every chance they got, and we were certainly no exception. Minutes later, Joe came chugging into the exchange point, probably about a quarter of a mile (if not more) ahead of the person behind him. He and Teresa fist-bumped and she took off running south on highway 35.
After another bathroom stop, Joe and I piled into the SUV and Teresa's husband drove off in the direction Teresa had gone minutes earlier. Teresa's first leg was the longest one in the race - about 6.7 miles - and it had a nice steady uphill burn to it. We encountered Teresa about a third of the way in. We waited at the crest of the big hill to offer her water (which she accepted) and then made our way to the second exchange point.
By this point the sun was out and the clouds, such as they were, had burned off, but it wasn't exactly warm. Joe and I waited around at the exchange point sign. Someone snapped a picture of us.
Photo credit: Kerry Loehr
Soon, Teresa appeared. I slipped my phone into my black armband, strapped the band to my left bicep, bumped fists with Teresa and off I went.
Photo credit: Joe, I believe
As I started running along the left shoulder of the highway I noted, as I often do when I first begin a run, that my gait was all wonky. I felt clumsy, uncoordinated and just not graceful. I remember thinking that I hoped the next runner wasn't too close behind me because I thought I must look like an elephant running down the road. Soon, however, my body became accustomed to the motion of running, my muscles warmed up a little and my gait evened out.
Just in time for the road to start going uphill. Yippee! (Not.)
Fortunately, I live on a hill. Nearly at the crest of it, I might add. So every time I run I am basically doing hill training. This came in handy on this particular day, as I will explain in a little bit.
My first leg was just over 4 miles long. Maybe a little more than half of it was a steady incline. Not too steep but definitely uphill - enough to make you feel it! Not to mention we were still basically halfway up the mountain so I had elevation to contend with. Talk about being out of breath!
Sometime during the uphill part, the rest of my team drove by me. They cheered me on, instantly bolstering my energy. Joe rolled down the window in the back and took this picture:
(at least I think it was Joe. Photo credit: Joe. Or
else Teresa. I can't remember for sure. Sorry!)
Interestingly, the apex of the hill was actually the exit for Mt. Hood Meadows, the place where Corky and I used to go snowboarding many times per season, back in the pre-Mara days. I said a silent hello to my past at the exit, and continued on down the hill.
Before too long, the runner in front of me (the 1st place runner) came into view. Since it was a steady downhill (thankfully not steep like what Joe had to endure on the first leg!), I decided I could catch her. So I stepped up the pace just a little bit. I don't have particularly long legs but I tried to stretch them out as I ran. Just before the exchange point, I passed her.
Because leg #5 involved trail running, and Teresa is self-proclaimed directionally challenged and felt as though running in the woods would be pushing her luck, she and Joe switched their 2nd legs (that's a weird sentence), and Teresa was waiting for me at the next exchange point. At this point, there were still many other vans around at the exchange point, waiting for their runners. As the relay went on, this changed.
Off goes Teresa!
(Photo credit: Joe or Craig, not sure which!)
(Before I go on I would just like to state that, given the type of blog this has tended to be, I am not finding it necessarily easy to share all of these photos on here. I tend to be very picky about the types of photos I will post of myself and if I perceive that I look "fat" or "big" or "bulky" in any way I will not post them. Some of these pictures, such as the one above, I feel fall into that category. However, I feel they are necessary to include because of the challenging nature of this relay race and I want to document it visually as well as with words. Not to mention it's probably not a bad idea to challenge that view of myself. I am still struggling with coming to term with looking "fit" rather than "thin". Anyway, enough about that. On with the post.)
I felt very good after that first leg. I was barely winded at the end. We waited there a little while to let Teresa get started on her leg, and then eventually we drove down the road. After checking up on Teresa part way through, we went to the next exchange point and waited.
Before long, we saw Teresa coming into the exchange point. You could see her from a good distance because of her bright shoes flashing in the sunlight. With shoes like that there was no mistaking Teresa!
Once she tapped Joe's hand and he took off running, I knew I was next. I also knew it was going to be my most challenging leg. Or at least that's what I thought. I was wrong, but I wouldn't know it for hours.
Joe took off running like a machine. Within minutes he disappeared into the woods where the trail began. We would not see him again for a while.
Joe's leg was soon over and it was again my turn. This was my shortest leg (2.5 miles) but it was ALL uphill. I figured I was a good choice to run this leg because of the fact that I run hills all the time at home. This turned out to be true because about 2/3 of the way through the leg I passed the first place runner again. As I did, we breathlessly commiserated about the grueling leg and also made note of the beauty of the summit of Mt. Hood as it peeked over the trees.
"He's RIGHT THERE!" I point out my
proximity to the runner ahead of me.
Photo credit: Joe.
Mercifully, the leg was short and over. Joe was again waiting for me at the exchange point. As I ran in, the other teams were milling around their vans and many of them held out their hands for high-fives and cheered my arrival. The camaraderie was amazing and I felt so, so happy. A high for sure. However, this was the last point I remember seeing many of the other vans. From here on out, it was basically just us and one other team.
After this point in the race, we started heading downhill primarily. The scenery changed from mountainous, wooded, rocky terrain to farmland almost instantly. Joe came charging down the road, out of the trees and blew past us in front of a farm with cows. The views were spectacular.
The next exchange point was practically in the middle of an orchard. The backdrop of foothills against the clear blue sky (the only nice day that week, I might add!) was stunning. Teresa and Joe traded off and away she went. We waited around a little, conversing with the coordinator, taking in the beauty that is our lovely state of Oregon.
Soon, we headed off for the next exchange point where I would run my 3rd leg. We got a little lost as we didn't have a map of the leg. Thankfully, Teresa did not get lost! (The irony of that did not go unnoticed!) We pulled into the exchange point less than 30 seconds ahead of Teresa. I leaped out of the car, strapped my armband on, adjusted my headband and immediately started running. I had no idea where I was going but thankfully the 1st place runner ahead of me was wearing a neon orange shirt which I could see from half a mile away, so I just followed her.
Initially I thought she was too far ahead of me to catch. So I just relaxed into a comfortable pace (around 8 1/2 to 9 minute mile) since we weren't aiming for first place anyway. Soon, however, I discovered that my pace was faster than the girl ahead of me and that I actually could probably catch her. So, again, I sped up, stretched my legs out and ran. I may not be the best at certain forms of exercise or sports but I know I can run. So I ran.
I started to feel fatigued about half a mile from the next exchange point. This leg was short, only 3.2 miles or so, a 5k, but I guess the hill had taken more out of me than I thought. I looked ahead for the exchange point but couldn't see it. So I just mentally went away, like I do when exercise is tough. I thought about Hawaii, Mexico, Curaçao, Russia... anywhere I'd been that I'd like to go to again. I came around a gradual corner and there was the exchange point! Three legs down, one to go.
We were all pretty tired at this point. Joe blasted through his last leg, coming into the exchange point sweaty and panting. This exchange point happened to be at a fruit stand and, since he was now done running, Joe rewarded himself with a berry milkshake. I was SOOOOO JEALOUS! But I still had one more leg to go.
Teresa powered out her last leg as well. We were sitting comfortably in 2nd place. I wanted SO BADLY to catch up to the 1st place runner as I had on my previous 3 legs, but I knew this last one would be tough. (It turned out to be the hardest leg of all - even harder than the 2.5 uphill miles I had run earlier.) To be a team of 3 running against a team of 6 and actually holding our own... man, it was a good feeling.
Anyway, I waited at the exchange sign for Teresa. She came into view, down a hill and up again, her fist outstretched, reaching for mine.
Photo credit: Joe (I think)
THIS LEG SUCKED!!!!!!!! I mean, the course was beautiful, the road was fine, but I was gassed. It was pretty warm at this point but I didn't even notice it because I was so incredibly spent that just moving my legs was hard enough and took all my attention.
The road stretched on and on before me. My team came by and gave me water several times, encouraged me and kept me company on this, my longest leg (5.87 miles). An encounter with a less-than-pleasant bicyclist had us all shaking our heads at one point.
Still smiling!
Photo credit: Joe
I walked several times on this leg. I tried not to do it when my team was around because I didn't want them to know that I couldn't run the whole time! The 1st place team van passed me early on, all of them hanging out the windows yelling, "GO KATE!!!!" They were really nice.
The road went up and up, on and on forever, so it seemed. Finally, I crested a hill and then it went DOWN DOWN DOWN. It was so steep that I actually had to pull up and stop at one point because my exhausted leg were nearly unable to keep up with my momentum. I didn't want to roll down the rest of the hill so I slowed down. I came down out of the hills, completed several switchbacks on this road, going from one side to the other and back depending on where the shoulder was wider.
At the bottom, I appeared in Hood River. My team met up with me one more time to hand me a piece of paper with directions to the finish line. I forced my legs to keep moving and carry me the rest of the way. I finished about 5 minutes behind the 1st place runner. Their team and my team were waiting for me at the finish. We all slapped high fives and congratulated one another.
(Note: my stomach sticks out because of my diastasis recti
from having a giant baby 1.5 years ago. I'm NOT
pregnant! Hahaha)
Photo credit: Joe
Photo credit: Craig
Team WE RUN TOO!
Second place, hell yeah!
Overall it was a long, hot, tiring and incredible day. The course was absolutely amazing. My team was awesome. The other teams were awesome. It was a great experience for my first relay. I would recommend this race to anyone!
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