Portland to Coast

My incredible team ~ Tami, Karen, Julie, Tonya, Sarah and myself

This weekend was Portland to Coast, and I finished!  It was hard, it was fun, it was exhausting. 

We started at 5:15 on Friday morning in downtown Portland under the Hawthorne Bridge.  Our team of twelve was split into two vans with six people each.  We were able to follow our walkers the whole route to offer cheers, water and encouragement.  My first leg was 4.11 miles and I walked it in 1 hour 6 minutes.  I walked right around noon on Friday.  After my leg, my van was able to drive to a field to lay down, stretch out and rest.  No sleeping was to be had, but that’s okay.  We were in this field for about 7 hours while the other van walked.  When they were done with their six legs we started on our next six legs.  I was the last walker from our group and I started my leg at 1:40 Saturday morning and finished at 3:05.  It was a 5.35 mile leg and it was hard.  It was dark out there in the middle of the night!  When I finished we headed home instead of the beach because most of my van had things to do Saturday. 

Portland to Coast is a big race (not as big as Hood to Coast, but still) with 400 12-person teams.  My team finished the 127 miles in 29 hours 3 minutes 4 seconds ~ which was good enough for 143rd place.  Out of 400, I think that’s pretty good!

I was glad that I had a great van of ladies to participate with.  I was glad that there were a couple that had done it before and could be our voice of experience.  I was glad for baby wipes to wipe off with when I was done walking. I was glad for my good shoes (which Bryan had to bring me on the course because I left them in the car).  I was glad for my mp3 player. I was glad for good snacks.  I was glad it wasn’t too hot.  I was glad that I didn’t get rained on while walking, but we did get to see a rainbow.  I was glad for how clever some teams were with their decorations and team names (Struttin’ Sole Sistahs, Heart and Sole, Walkers with a Drinking Problem, etc.) I was glad for a warm bed to crash in when we were done. I was glad that Bryan let me sleep in Sunday until 9:30.

I’m proud that I did it.  And it didn’t kill (in fact, I was able to coach soccer Saturday afternoon!).  I’m looking forward to next year. Anyone want to join the team?