As the Largest Running Relay Race in the World, and The Mother of All Relays, The Hood To Coast Relay stretches 197 miles from the top of Oregon's majestic Mt. Hood down to the beautiful Pacific Ocean beaches in Seaside, Oregon. Over 12,000 runners and 4,800 walkers in The Portland To Coast, share in the experience of this annual event.
Yes, it's a big dog deal. 12 runners join in two vans, and then hand off to one other for 197 miles. Each runner runs three legs rated in different levels of difficulty based on elevation and length. The handoffs between runners in one van are called exchanges, and the handoffs between vans are called major exchanges. Exchanges are jammed with vans and runners as they manage the transitions as quickly and efficiently as possible.
But I'm getting ahead of myself! If your team makes it to registered status (the race is so popular that hundreds of teams get turned down every year) then packet pickup is the next step. Packet pickup quickly swells into long lines as hundreds of teams converge into the designated spot where they queue up to receive bibs, t-shirts and other necessities for the race.
I had a wedding to perform early afternoon the day of packet pickup, and felt that I had a good margin to pickup the packet, go home and change, and show up for the wedding on time. But, to not have any pressure I showed up at 8:00 AM to be first in line (hopefully) for the 9:00 AM start. As I entered the Tiger Woods building on the Nike Campus where packet pickup was to take place, there were already about 20 people ahead of me! Wow, these runners are competitive! As we milled around I noticed that many of them had on team gear from one of the more famous teams, the Headhunters. They began signing their names on a clipboard, and then it hit me - they were volunteers to help manage the logistics and check off and handout items to the various teams.
Soon I noticed that the doors to the room I was in had been closed and locked, sequestering us from the cavernous entrance to the Tiger Woods building. Hmmm - my little mind began to think - I'm just here to pick up my packet. Now I'm locked in the room where my packet is, and hundreds of people (literally, I'm not exaggerating) were queueing up to pick up their packets. I strategically took up a post at the door. Pretty soon this guy wandered over and I knew that my pretensions would quickly be found out, so I took the offensive:
"Hi, I'm Dave - what's your job here"? "Hi Dave, I'm Greg - my job is to help the team captains find their team number if they have forgotten by cross referencing the team name". "Great", I said, "why don't you stand to my left". A younger guy had wandered over and again I took the offensive - "Hi, I'm Dave - what's your job here"? "I'm Steve", he replied. "I don't know what I'm supposed to do, they just sent me over here to help". "Super", I replied - "your job will be to stand on my right and help control traffic. Keep people moving not too slow but not too fast, just a good steady pace so we can get them in and out". He nodded his affirmation.
So, now I'm not just hanging around - I am in charge of the door that I'm supposed to be on the other side of, milling with the herd! Sometimes I'm almost shamed by my Machiavellian tendencies. This was not one of them!
At the appointed time we got the word to open the doors. I motioned to Greg and Steve to get ready and follow my lead. I opened the door and a hush went through the cavern as I hollered "can I have your attention please". "This is how it's going to work - Greg will help you find your team number if you need it, and Steve will help keep the line moving. Don't rush, we'll get you in and out quickly. As you enter the room, the lowest number packets will be on your right, ascending in number as you look counter-clockwise. Packet number #500 is almost right in the center. Are there any questions?" There were none, and then being somewhat puffed up in pompousness I pumped the air with my fist and screamed "are you ready to run?" "YES" cheered the crowd. "Follow me" I said, and ushered the first 50 people into the room. I walked to my table, picked up my packet and walked out!
Later I recounted this story to the Hood to Coast office staff and they were laughing so hard they almost fell off of their chairs!
