Hood2Coast peeps - how did it go?

[gumi]

InBetweenDays
I know there is at least another poster too but I cant recall your username.....


Holy crap that was a hard race!  I was expecting it to be like Ragnar but IMO,  it was much harder.  I know this has to do with the legs you run (I was the second runner, which I think is the second hardest position).  I tried to hard to not lean back while running down Mt Hood but then my legs just ran too fast.  It was so hard! And it tore up my legs.  I kinda had them loosened by my second run, but by my third, they were so hurting!  My last run (5.8 miles), which had miles hills, felt just like the last 5.8 mild of the marathon.  I dont even know how I did it, to be honest.

And then I worked until 8pm!  It was crazy.  But that party at the beach was epic.  I got VIP for working and felt like I was in college.  That VIP area got freaky, girls were making out and stuff. 

And the firework show was amazing. The best I have ever seen. 

I would do it again for sure, but I would not do leg 2.

ETA:  I used the word "hard" a lot so clearly that is my final opinion about this race. HA!  I met so many awesome people, too.  Everyone there was awesome!

[InBetweenDays]

We had a BLAST. I agree it seems more difficult than Ragnar. At least Ragnar Northwest Passage. My total miles were about the same, but they were way more difficult - and I didn't have a difficult position. But my second leg was hilly and twisty so the road was really cambered. My last Ragnar leg was 8 miles of BIGS ups and downs and I was more toast on my last HTC 4 mile run.

Yeah, Runner 2 is a hard spot (I think it's the 3rd longest, 4th hardest?). Our first three runners had a hard time reining it in down the mountain and paid for it later. How did you guys deal with the congestion? We didn't have any of that last year, but I think Exchange 12 created such a backlog that kept affecting our Van 1 through the rest of the race. I'm guessing they won't have that as an exchange point next year - hopefully the construction will be done so they can move it back to the old location. It was a much easier spot to get in and out of last year. But I was wondering how the really fast teams dealt with it when we had troubles making it to some of the exchanges for our 8.5 minute milers.

We finished and hung out for about an hour drinking beer and celebrating. Then we went to Cannon Beach where we have a cottage. 10 of us stayed in 1,000 square feet, but the night was so beautiful and we had a bonfire down on the beach until 10ish. Such a good weekend - already hoping to get a spot for next year.

[InBetweenDays]

By the way, I saw someone that I thought looked like you on my last leg. Were you team 90? or 90something? This person was standing outside a van (or some sort of vehicle) on the side of the road on Leg 31. I think they were waiting to support their runner.

And if you do it next year, I highly recommend the Runner 6 position. Did that last year and loved it.

[gumi]

Aug 28, 2013 10:12:03 GMT -5 InBetweenDays said:

We had a BLAST. I agree it seems more difficult than Ragnar. At least Ragnar Northwest Passage. My total miles were about the same, but they were way more difficult - and I didn't have a difficult position. But my second leg was hilly and twisty so the road was really cambered. My last Ragnar leg was 8 miles of BIGS ups and downs and I was more toast on my last HTC 4 mile run.

Yeah, Runner 2 is a hard spot (I think it's the 3rd longest, 4th hardest?). Our first three runners had a hard time reining it in down the mountain and paid for it later. How did you guys deal with the congestion? We didn't have any of that last year, but I think Exchange 12 created such a backlog that kept affecting our Van 1 through the rest of the race. I'm guessing they won't have that as an exchange point next year - hopefully the construction will be done so they can move it back to the old location. It was a much easier spot to get in and out of last year. But I was wondering how the really fast teams dealt with it when we had troubles making it to some of the exchanges for our 8.5 minute milers.

We finished and hung out for about an hour drinking beer and celebrating. Then we went to Cannon Beach where we have a cottage. 10 of us stayed in 1,000 square feet, but the night was so beautiful and we had a bonfire down on the beach until 10ish. Such a good weekend - already hoping to get a spot for next year.

That congestion was so annoying!  We were hoping for a few hours of sleep before our last runs but because of the traffic, we only had like an hour at the van transition.  I tried to sleep in the van but it was just so uncomfortable because my muscles wouldn't let me curl up in the ball.  I had my eyes closed for awhile and I heard some honking.  I didn't think much of it.  Then I heard the navigator (passenger up front) say, "To stay awake, I think I will do some math."  And then more honking.  And then the passenger said,
"OMG I thought I had to fart but now I think it was liquid!!  I should not have ate that salmon at Whole Foods!!"  And then I heard another honk.  And then I heard him scream, "OMG You are asleep at the wheel!!!!"  (and he really did the have the shits and our driver really did fall asleep) LOL

We had to drop runners off and leave them so we could get to the next location on time.

Next time I want a bigger van.  Did you see the Baracuda van? I think it had a bed in it!

[InBetweenDays]

Aug 28, 2013 14:12:26 GMT -5 gumi said:

Aug 28, 2013 10:12:03 GMT -5 InBetweenDays said:

We had a BLAST. I agree it seems more difficult than Ragnar. At least Ragnar Northwest Passage. My total miles were about the same, but they were way more difficult - and I didn't have a difficult position. But my second leg was hilly and twisty so the road was really cambered. My last Ragnar leg was 8 miles of BIGS ups and downs and I was more toast on my last HTC 4 mile run.

Yeah, Runner 2 is a hard spot (I think it's the 3rd longest, 4th hardest?). Our first three runners had a hard time reining it in down the mountain and paid for it later. How did you guys deal with the congestion? We didn't have any of that last year, but I think Exchange 12 created such a backlog that kept affecting our Van 1 through the rest of the race. I'm guessing they won't have that as an exchange point next year - hopefully the construction will be done so they can move it back to the old location. It was a much easier spot to get in and out of last year. But I was wondering how the really fast teams dealt with it when we had troubles making it to some of the exchanges for our 8.5 minute milers.

We finished and hung out for about an hour drinking beer and celebrating. Then we went to Cannon Beach where we have a cottage. 10 of us stayed in 1,000 square feet, but the night was so beautiful and we had a bonfire down on the beach until 10ish. Such a good weekend - already hoping to get a spot for next year.

That congestion was so annoying!  We were hoping for a few hours of sleep before our last runs but because of the traffic, we only had like an hour at the van transition.  I tried to sleep in the van but it was just so uncomfortable because my muscles wouldn't let me curl up in the ball.  I had my eyes closed for awhile and I heard some honking.  I didn't think much of it.  Then I heard the navigator (passenger up front) say, "To stay awake, I think I will do some math."  And then more honking.  And then the passenger said,
"OMG I thought I had to fart but now I think it was liquid!!  I should not have ate that salmon at Whole Foods!!"  And then I heard another honk.  And then I heard him scream, "OMG You are asleep at the wheel!!!!"  (and he really did the have the shits and our driver really did fall asleep) LOL

We had to drop runners off and leave them so we could get to the next location on time.

Next time I want a bigger van.  Did you see the Baracuda van? I think it had a bed in it!

Ha, yeah. Figuring out what to eat is such a delicate balance. We had some runners have to make a pit stop mid-run on some of the 7-milers. 

Our first break was from 7:30pmish to 11:30pmish, but we had to get out of the mess at Exchange 12, drive to Exchange 18, eat, and get settled in. I laid down for about an hour but never slept (I was runner 7 so I was too nervous I'd be out of it when I needed to be up). At Exchange 24 our Van 1 runner was nowhere to be found when our runner came into the shoot. It was 4:30am, there was no cell service, so I was walking up and down the rows of hundreds of vans yelling "Team 4.2.3. where the hell are you??". I finally found them and they all looked guilty and half asleep as they shoved peanut butter bread into their mouth. Our next runner finally made it way into the shoot only to look around and say, "Which way do I run?"

I did sleep for about 45 minutes at Exchange 30. I was in the driver's seat and just leaned up against the window.

[InBetweenDays]

Oh, and I did see a van with bunk beds built into the back. I was very jealous.