Race Recap: Bend Beer Chase relay and 6Keg

On Oct. 10th, 2014 I embarked onto a new part of Oregon that I have never been to.... Bend Oregon.  Race day was Saturday, Oct. 11th. 

I have been told that Bend has the most craft breweries per capita.  Some states may have more breweries, but with the number available per the population, Bend wins.  If you do a google search for "Beer City, USA"... guess which city you will find?  Bend!  They are that serious about their craft beer.   So, if running is a lot more fun as a social event and drinking is a lot more fun in a social environment, Bend Beer Chase is your race.  

When I started this race, I admit that I didn't know a whole lot about the beverage in which our race was focused around, but that soon changed.  

My team mate Gregg had been a brewer and I soon learned about the color of beer, how the malt can change the flavor (caramel malts, roasted malts dark malts...) and the IBU of beer (international bitterness units scale).   It was soon determined that "blondes don't turn me on" and I enjoyed the beers with a higher IBU.  After doing some "homework" and learning about some of the award winning beers Bend had to offer, my teammates and I parted ways to get some rest before the race in the morning.  I guess you could say we had an early start...  We were a spirited team.  

Packet pickup on Friday night included Beer Pong.  Photo by my team mate, Michael.

**Full disclosure:  Drinking 16 beers the night before a race isn't really a good idea.  Our start time was at 6:30am but I was up at 2am with....consequences.**  

As we made our way through the race, we were able to enjoy samples of many of the breweries who not only sponsored the event but have award winning beer.  My disappointment is that as I ran past Smith Rock Brewing in Redmond, they had not yet set up their samples... so I missed out (as well as my team mates who did not know that the sample would be on the actual course, instead of at the exchange point).  This was my first leg, leg 4.  

I had only done one relay before this and never a one day relay, so I wasn't sure what to expect!  We had stopped by packet pick up that evening and soon learned that participants could choose between a cotton race shirt, a trucker-type hat or a warmer beanie type hat as their race swag.  (So if you have enough race shirts spilling out of your closet and drawers, a hat would be a great option for you!  The weather is a bit cooler in October, so a that is also a good choice.  I went with the shirt. Ha!)

 The race itself started at 6:30am with waves thereafter for approximately 64 teams (give or take).  Each team could have as many as 6 members or as few as 2 for the 70 mile event.  We ran with 5 members and Michael and Gregg took on the extra two legs of the 12 total to be ran.   

The race offered some scenic views, and as someone who had never actually been to Bend, this was a real treat to see a new part of Oregon.  If beer is not enough for a trip to Bend, the beautiful outdoors surely will be.   We ran in the high desert of Central Oregon, past sweeping views of the Cascades and as we had a whole gamut of weather conditions and saw a few tumbleweeds cross our path due to wind and the Ponderosa Pine helped shade us from the warm sun.

Me (uh hem) "hydrating" before my first leg; baton pass off on exchange 3 for leg 4; Running on a dusty leg 9 and bottom is me finishing leg 9. 

We started at Wild Ride Brewery and I wove my way through the city streets of Remond. This is stop and go with traffic signals and crosswalks, but wasn't too terrible.  For 15 minutes, my team was number one.  In first place!  And then as I stood at a traffic signal, waiting for my turn to go, a woman screamed "I'm going!" and darted across the street.  I had been chicked.  The first (of many times) I was someone's roadkill.  You sorta get used to it after awhile. After passing (the not yet set up) Smith Rock Brewery, the course ends up on SW Highland Ave, which felt more like a freeway than an avenue.  If running on a road with fast moving traffic is nerve wracking, I suggest avoiding this leg.  The reality of it was obvious when I passed a roadside monument to someone who had died.  I stopped letting my eyes wander over the pretty scenery and focused on the oncoming cars sharing the road with me.

Once I was done with the busy street, I turned into Cline Falls State Park for a nice downhill to my exchange.  I felt bad for Scott who had to trek back up my nice decline.  He went back onto the same busy street and said a car locked their brakes and skidded toward him.  For a moment he said he was contemplating where he needed to jump to avoid the car!   

View at Cline Falls State Park, photo by Michael

 Because the rule book allows for legs to be chosen "out of order" and based on what each team mate would like to do based on energy endurance, experience or strategy... we went out of sequence and I then took leg 9 as my second leg.  My last leg.  

Part of the view on my second leg.  Photo by my team mate, Michael.

Something I had known about, but completely forgot was the elevation change and how that can mess with your oxygen levels.... and make a runner feel more fatigued.  I pushed hard through it my first leg and may have pushed a little too hard?  My knee was killing me and I hobbled through my second leg.

This leg (leg 9) departs Sisters Rodeo Fairgrounds and through some country roads roads both paved and unpaved.  Mostly unpaved.  If you have this leg you should highly consider a handkerchief or some sort of  face cover in your gear supply.  The handbook made no mention of that and it sure didn't occur to me to pack one.

Wind and dust on my leg.  Photo by Michael

The wind was pretty strong and stirring up the dust and was made much worse by vans that were driving quickly to the next exchange point.  The unpleasantness of the dust was a small drop in my (beer) cup compared to the beautiful desert views and the comradery of the runners with me on this course.   When my team had assisted me with more water and cheers, I asked my teammate Michael to go back a few yards to take pictures of the landscape, which he had done for me.  It was so beautiful, I wanted to make sure to remember it.  I also had the opportunity to cheer and encourage everyone who passed me, which helps me feel better when the going gets rough for me.  Another team ("The Cracked Six Pack") came to the rescue to my diminished moral by giving me a "power arch" and crepe paper finish line with 2 more miles to go on my leg. 

Dirt road continues for leg 10

 After that, I felt like a million bucks and lumbered on to my team mates at the windy/dusty exchange "Three Sisters View Point".  I think I missed enjoying this view point as I jumped into our car to avoid the wind and to wash the dirt out of my mouth.

Bend, Oregon.  Photo I took while on the 6K beer crawl

After the race, breweries that were not featured at the exchange points (or on the course) were at the finish for a 6Keg run/walk.  This part was untimed, though there was a time commitment to finish the 6K(eg) by 6:30pm.  We finished by 5:15pm and departed on the final 6K.  My team went to the first brewery on the course and we quickly decided that The Bend Brewing Company was too crowded and we moved on to Silver Moon Brewing.  After a Pumpkin Ale taste, we ventured on to 10 Barrel Brewing.  

Hanging at 10 Barrel Brewery

We had an hour to complete the tour of 6 breweries after our official relay finish but it became pretty obvious we weren't going to finish the 6Keg in time as the brewery broke down their sample tent and table and we were encouraged to go straight to the last brewery for our finisher's medal.  I don't have any experience at all with planning an event of this caliber, but I hope that next year the organization of breweries is done in such a way that all the breweries have an equal chance at showcasing their excellent brews to all the participants.  I certainly wish I had the opportunity to taste all the breweries.  I guess I'll just have to plan another road trip to Bend for a brewery tour.  

Overall, the event was very well organized, friendly, well marked course and a whole lot of fun!  I am new to relays, but really enjoyed the experience (and lack of stress) the one day relay has to offer.

front and back

  Race swag included your choice in race apparel between a cotton shirt, trucker hat or a warm beanie type hat at packet pickup and a chance to throw a ping pong ball into a cup of beer for a free sticker.  (Thanks Gregg for the sticker... 16 beers before packet pickup and I wasn't throwing that ball very well.)  At the finish line, a sample beer cup with the bottle opener/finisher's medal in it.  Very fun experience and made even more memorable and fun by the team mates I had.  I hope we can get together again for another relay event or race.  

Me and Anne taking a break at Three Creeks Brewery

Have you done a relay?

A beer themed race?

Hood To Coast 2014 recap: Confessions of a first time relayer and first time team captain

A friend refered to me on facebook as "inspiring and intimidating" on facebook.... inspiring for how far I've come (losing 80 lbs and being able to go from a slow walk to a slow run) but intimidating because I am able to do a half marathon within a few weeks of each other and then go run "The Mother of All Relays" or "The World's Largest Relay" (full of people, not the world's longest relay).

I was surprised.  I didn't think of my athleticism as intimidating.  I don't do speed work.  I just started hill work.  I don't stretch before or after I run.  I'm lazy and don't see myself as serious.  Who the heck runs a mile warm up and then a mile cool down before and after 13.1 miles?!  The intimidating people do.  ;)  I'm just lazy.  Seriously.  If you are running 2 extra miles when you are doing a half marathon, you need an extra medal.  Those are serious people.   

And... maybe a bit of that lazy nature was how I approached Hood To Coast.  

After a death in the family, a note from our landlord to look for another place to live and then a friend going through a tragic stressful time... I sorta stopped running.  I hadn't done more than 6 miles since early July.  A team mate pulled me aside and was worried about me continuing to do Hood To Coast.  

I did it anyway.   And I lived to tell the tale.

I had no idea what I was doing as a team captain... and I was very lucky to be well connected in my little running community with lots of people who had run it before.  I still felt a little out of touch, but before long my friends who really are athletically intimidating volunteered to take the "hard legs" and I was given the easiest legs.

That isn't a bad thing.  I got to start the race off at the starting line, run through downtown Portland and then finish outside of Mist... the area is like running through a cold cloud.  

The race had lots of criticism and a couple blunders with traffic and safety that has left several people angry and frustrated (rightly so).  However, I'd like this recap to focus not on the unmoving traffic on exchange 24 and the runners left in the cold for several hours while neither of their team mate's vans had arrived or the scary gorilla jumping out to scare runners between exchanges 19 and 20... but I'm going to focus on my experience as a team captain and how my team did in this event (despite my leadership or the lack thereof.  Certainly a lack of experience.)  

Some of my favorite Hood To Coast moments:

Seeing the start line and THE mountain for the first time.  We watched the very first wave of runners start the relay.  Seeing the setting sun put Portland's skyline to a silhouette.  The relief of seeing the finish chute.  The exhilarating feeling of running my first leg down that steep mountain.  Meeting the friendly...mime at exchange 12.  My team mates crossing the finish together and one enthusiastically doing a cartwheel across the finish.  My sign on the windshield to remind us all that the van was our home for the next 36+ hours... not just home, but a "sweet" home?  Perhaps.  Seeing the Panda at the finish line party!  I saw him at exchange 24 waiting for his runner to come in.  I wanted to ask him for a bear hug to keep me warm.  I asked Bob Foote for a hug at the start line.  Hanging out in Seaside and reflecting on the event while my team mates journeyed home.  And sitting on the balcony of a hotel 4 stories up above the party below with my finisher's medal. 

Page 13 of the handbook states that when registering your team is making a commitment to average as a whole no slower than 9:45 minute mile pace or 32 1/2 hrs in total time.  We averaged a 10:31 min./mile pace and finished in 34 hours and 50 minutes.

Here are a few tips when you are a captain to a relay team:

* Get ready for surprises and don't get stressed by them.  Team members will quit, at the last minute.  Even if they don't want to.  Have back up runners available up to the day of the event.  Volunteers will quit.  Have back ups of those too.  

*  Reward your volunteers well.  Hood to Coast has them standing out there for 5 hours (on average) with little to no supplies.  Show them some love.

*  Reserve a hotel or beach house.  Everyone just ran a relay!!  I don't care how close y'all live and how much y'all want to sleep in your own beds, kick back with each other for one last bonding session, smooth out any wrinkles, enjoy a beer and chat about each other's personal experiences.  

*  Have a plan of when and where to go get food together.  Van 2 is going to be exhausted and need replenishment after the finish line festivities.  As soon as the "hangry" (hungry/angry) episodes can be avoided, the better.  

*  Relax.  Take it all in.  Enjoy it.  

I'm sure there are lots of other great tips out there, but it all boils down to just have fun.  Just because all your teammates are your friends and like you, doesn't mean they will all like each other.  Make sure personalities are going to mesh and people can be at peace instead of at odds with each other.  

One other thing, pack comfort foods.  Even though I ran less than my long run distances, my gastrointestinal tract was not happy with it. I loved my chocolate milk, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (Thanks Dave's Killer Bread!) and salt and vinegar chips.  That was all I ate.  And Orange ricotta pancakes.   Take what you know, what you've trained with and under no circumstances should you try something new.  Even if your next run is in 6+ hours.  You can't always get to a bathroom when you need one. 

Eating my third PB&J with Dave's Killer Bread

Have you ran a relay?  What advice would you give a new team captain?

Getting closer to Hood To Coast!! (And maybe a teeny bit stressed about it)

I woke up this morning to my phone buzzing with text messages and alerts.  10 days until race day one of my runners has to drop out due to work conflicts and another may be dropping out depending how he feels after a half ironman this coming weekend.  A Half Ironman!!  I'm in awe.

And stressed.  We have alternates all lined up and eager to take their spots, but the unknown drives me batty.  Especially since I'll be away from the computer for 5 days while camping... right before the Hood To Coast relay.  Did I mention it's 10 days until race day?!

10 days until race day.

In other team news and updates, I picked up the team shirts and hoodies today.  They are amazing.   H&S Screen Printing did my Moms Run This Town shirts and they came through again with high quality, screen printed shirts with a beautiful design thanks to the hand drawings done by one of my teammates.  

(I think they might be better than the official race shirts.  Sorry Hood To Coast!  See the official race shirt HERE.)

"Robin From The Hood And Her Coastal Van of Misfits" is ready, or just about....

Have you ran a relay?  What crazy shenanigans have you faced in the last few days before "go time!"?