My sincere apologies for the radio silence, but I’ve been absent for good reason. I only returned midnight on Sunday after spending nearly two weeks in Portland, Oregon, the key mission of which was to run the Aug 28-29 Nike Hood to Coast Relay.
A two-day relay? For sure. This ain’t your 4×100m sub-60s blink-and-miss-it baton-passing race. The Hood to Coast is a supersized relay, reportedly the biggest in the world. In its 28th edition this year, the annual 197 mile race (317km) from the snow-capped Mount Hood to the Pacific Ocean at Seaside involved some 12,000 runners and 3,500 volunteers. The distance is split into 36 legs of varying lengths, terrain and hence difficulty. Each team consists of 12 members who run three legs each (eg. The first runner does Legs 1, 13 and 25. The second runner, Legs 2, 14 and 26. You get the idea!), with conditions that change more often than a Chinese bride at a wedding dinner. One moment you could be running under the scorching sunshine, the next in overcast cool. A few hours later, the rain might be beating down on you on an uphill gravel road in pitch black darkness, with only a torch to guide your way.
Running is the easy part, though, if you consider the logistics involved. Teams have to navigate their own way around the course, supporting the team runners along the way while making sure they get to the right handover point in time to pass the baton. Losing your way is not uncommon.
Each team is split into two vans of six runners each, stocked full of energy drinks, food, toilet paper, change of clothing and even sleeping bags and pillows. Why? Because on average, teams take about 28 hours to complete the race. Runners pretty much stay awake the whole time, save for a couple of hours of sleep in between legs. High schools along the way — closed for the summer holidays — are opened to teams who want hot showers, a dry place to sleep and a warm meal of fluffy pancakes, scrambled eggs and sausage. Some teams choose not to shower for the whole race and rather camp out on the grass. It really is up to each team to decide how they want to get to the finish line.
They don’t call the Hood to Coast the “mother of all relays” for nothing.
The Nike Singapore office decided to send two teams to the race this year, after their maiden outing with one team at least year’s race proved to be an unforgettable experience. Made up mostly of employees from Singapore and the South-east Asia region, the team also had three “outsiders” — myself, a Filipina blogger and a Malaysian nikeplus contest winner.
I’ve done many different kinds of races in my career so far, but I have to say the Hood to Coast experience was special.
Race report and pictures to come.