Monday, August 31

My first running event

and believe me it won't be the last!

Before the big event, meeting up at our team captain's house. (By the way the only thing harder than running Hood to Coast is planning it. Huge thanks to our team captain Heather and her hubby Paul, who made it amazing!)
Starting line and my first time on Mt. Hood. The whole course was just gorgeous!We decorated the car at the start line--our team name was Numb. Our car was definitely mild compared to a lot of the other vans!My whole van (first 6 runners on our team) at the startMy first leg just after the hand off. You'll see in the next picture the green bracelet we would pass like a baton at each exchange.
I had a super supportive team; after one of my climbs they had a mini finish for me to celebrate. My first run was my longest, but I have to admit it was beautiful and felt great. I was so stressed about the actual event that it felt good to finally start running! (I was the 6th runner in my group, so by this time everyone else in my van had already gone. It was nerve racking for me to watch each of them run just waiting for my turn.) After my run the second half of our team got started running and my van went back to the team captain's house for food, showers, and rest. Heather's husband made an amazing dinner for us, had clean towels ready for our shower, and even had water ready in the washing machine in case we wanted to wash anything. We didn't have a lot of time, but it felt amazing to shower and stretch. Then we took off to start our second legs. No pictures of those--it was dark, I was tired. We were desperately trying to rest. My second leg felt great too--it was a beautiful dark night. It was still challenging because of the slight climb, but it was peaceful and enjoyable.


Where we slept after our second legs. There were tons of people and vans everywhere. You can see the line of people for the bathrooms--it was actually only about a 10 minute wait, not too bad. After the second leg we had about an hr sleep in the car, and then slept for an hour in this field as well. It was loud, the sun was already up, and it was slightly raining, but I crashed. I only wish I had had more time!
Ashleigh and me getting cozy!
Ready to run our last legs!
After sleeping we started our last legs. I was super nervous about this leg because I knew I would be exhausted by the time it was my turn. Once again no pictures--I was so tired! My last leg was really fun because it started with some climbing, but the last 3 miles were mostly downhill. I loved it. It was definitely my easiest leg. When I finished my whole van was done, so we went to Astoria to eat, and then over to Seaside for showers. The showers were probably the best thing in the world, although if I wasn't already sore, I sure was after the shower. The shower head head me mid-chest, so washing my hair involved a very painful squat.
Finally reaching Seaside!Crossing the finish line with our whole team.

It was an amazing event with the best part being the new friends I've made. I'm so proud of myself for how I did. I ran slow, but I felt strong on every leg. I really hope I get the chance to run it again next year! (Oh yeah, it took us 30:46:57 to run 197 miles, we might not have been first, but we were far from being last!)

(Thanks to my team members for some of these photos--it was nice to steal some!)

4 comments:

Sarah said...

You are awesome!! I am so inspired by you!! I am running a 10k with Georgia on Labor Day, but I don't think I've ever run 6 miles before. . . and I haven't been running, so I think it might be painful. Hopefully it will go well. :-)

Kelli Boyd said...

Bec, looks like you had an awesome experience. I wish I had the same sense of adventure that you have. You've experienced WAY more in your lifetime than I have in mine. :-)

Miss you.

Natalie said...

It doesn't look like your nerves got the better of you. Perfect smile in every picture! That looks so fun!! I've got to do that race sometime. I didn't know you would have time to shower at someone's house. That's awesome! Glad to see you survived, and I love the pictures!

Arin said...

Congrats Becca...that's quite a feat! You look like a pro runner! Great job!