2023 Hood to Coast Legs 13-36 Atlanta Rogue Running Group (ARRG)

Legs 13-36 of Hood to Coast 2023
Hood to Coast is known as the Mother of All Relays
Starting in Mt. Hood, Oregon, this 197-mile course is split into 36 segments for 12 runners.
We started at 12:25 pm on Friday, August 25, 2023
We are team Atlanta Running Rogue Running Group - ARRG
Blog Post Summary - carolinedunn.org/embarking-on...
Start to Leg 1 - • Hood to Coast 2023 - S...
Legs 2-10 - • Hood to Coast 2023 - L...
Legs 13-36 - • 2023 Hood to Coast Leg...
Hood to Coast 2023 ARRG Playlist - • Hood to Coast 2023 - A...
Van 1
Runner 1 - Caroline Dunn
Runner 2 - Jennifer Roesler
Runner 3 - Paul Dunn
Runner 4 - Herna Mansjur
Runner 5 - Jordan Eison
Runner 6 - Barrie Roesler
Van 2
Runner 7 - Katie Winter
Runner 8 - Andrea Angel
Runner 9 - Jacque Hartley
Runner 10 - Jerry Sasser
Runner 11 - Marly van Assen
Runner 12 - Bridget Forier
Chapters:
0:09 - What is Hood to Coast?
0:31 - Van 1 Walkup
0:38 - Van 2 Walkup
0:48 - Exchange 13
0:52 - Exchange 15
1:01 - Exchange 17
1:05 - Exchange 18
1:14 - Exchange 19
1:20 - Leg 20
1:30 - Leg 21
1:44 - Exchange 21
1:55 - Exchange 22
2:05 - Exchange 23
2:15 - Leg 24
2:22 - Exchange 24
2:29 - Exchange 25
2:34 - Exchange 26
2:40 - Exchange 27
2:53 - Exchange 28
3:01 - Exchange 30
3:10 - Leg 31 + Van 1 Finish Line
3:22 - Exchange 31
3:28 - Exchange 32
3:40 - Leg 33
3:50 - Van 1 Seaside
3:52 - Exchange 35
4:05 - Finish Line
4:48 - Post Hood to Coast Celebrations

[@Caroline]

Notes: Leg 13 - I see this guy running in front of me that is built like Tony Wills. I think he's going to be fast. I am wrong. I road kill him up the bridge, he kills me going downhill. He must have taken Leg 1 since he is a good downhill runner. When we hit flat land, I leave him in the dust.
This woman who starts shortly after me passes me, but a mile later, she starts walking and I pass her. I see a group of roller skaters off to the left side with their light up roller skates.
When I passed the woman, I had no one in front of me and I became worried about getting lost. Fortunately, the signage was good and there were 2 people where I needed to take a critical turn.
As I ran North, I saw people leaving a hotel, I asked, am I going the right way and they said yes. I felt better after that. I did not get lost. My route was a little short, the handbook was 5.2 miles, my GPS watch recorded a little short of 5 miles.
Exchange 13 - Jennifer was ready to run and I handed off the slap band to her.
Leg 14 - Jennifer
Exchange 14 - Once again, I was tired and didn’t watch the exchange
Leg 15 - Paul
Exchange 15 - Paul hands off to Herna. Barrie starts commenting that he needs some caffeine before he runs his leg. Jordan mixes up a concoction of powdered Gatorade and caffeine for Barrie. Barrie later comments that it tasted medicinal.
Leg 16 - Herna
Exchange 16 - Scappose High School. The handbook said $2 showers/coffee/bagels
There were no showers, coffee, or bagels. I don’t know if they closed up shop or ran out of stuff. We were there right after 1 am and they closed at 1 am according to the handbook.
Jordan got ready to run and went to the exchange area. The rest of us relaxed in the van for a few more minutes and then headed out to cheer them on. As the rest of us started walking toward the exchange, we saw Herna coming in, we were too far away to get any footage. Good thing Jordan went to the exchange early.
Leg 17 - Jordan ran fast. We cheered him on as we passed him in the van.
Exchange 17 - Jordan made such a big deal about nobody being there for him when he finished Leg 5, that we made sure we were out there for him to come in to Exchange 17.
Leg 18 - Barrie hopped up on Jordan’s caffeine concoction.
Major Exchange 18 - Van 2 was there and ready to go. Marly tried to sleep at Exchange 18 but was right next to the announcer or something and didn’t get any sleep. Barrie handed off to Katie.
Leg 19 - We cheered on Katie as we drove to Exchange 24.
Herna drove to Exchange 24. I was in the passenger seat falling asleep. I tried to stay awake as there were many turns and I was afraid that Herna would fall asleep behind the wheel. She did not. I think it was a 40 minute drive to Exchange 24.
Exchange 24 - Paul pointed out that this was the Alaskan Airlines tent exchange and I could get a 2-person tent. We get there and everyone starts looking for porta-potties. I wander around looking for tent city. I can’t find it and I’ve made the mistake of not taking any lights we me. It is pitch black dark and I can’t see a thing. I finally ask a volunteer directing traffic and he points me in the direction to the tents. I ask if he knows the capacity of the tents and he says, ”no one has come back disappointed.” I try to walk back to the van, but I get a little lost since I don’t have a light with me. I eventually find my way back to the van.
When Paul gets back to the van, I tell him that I think I know where the tents are and we leave for tent city.
When we get to tent city, the attendant doesn’t even ask me for my Alaskan Airlines number, she just takes us over to Tent #17. We open up our bivvy sacks and try to get some rest. I think I sleep for maybe an hour at most. When I wake up I need to go to the bathroom; I find the porta-potties with a short line and a concession stand with bananas, coffee, and Gatorade. I pay with a $5 bill and head back to tent city. Paul seems pretty happy with my provisions. We split everything and check-out of tent city. We get back to the van to find Hern with a blanket over her head and everyone else dead asleep in the van. We decide not to bother them. The guy in the van next door gives us a bottle of water which we use to brush our teeth. I brought a Delta amenity pack which contained eye covers, toothbrush and toothpaste. After we brush our teeth, we go back to the van and they are waking up. Paul convinces them to move the van to a better spot. We basically get an almost front row parking space to the exchange area. As Van 2 arrives, Paul directs them to park next to us. I run around a bit to get warmed up. Van 2 encourages me to go to the exchange area as Bridget will be coming in soon. The line for provisions is now 5x longer. They have a spotter who calls out the bib #s way in advance. Bridget hands off to me and I’m thrilled to start my last leg around 8 am.
Leg 25 - I’m so happy to be running my last leg. I get about 8 kills which is the most of any leg. The route is straight up the road; I’m not worried about taking a wrong turn. It is light out and cloudy; perfect running conditions. The spreadsheet calculated that I would run an 11 minute mile, but I end up running 9:30 pace. Jordan said before the race that running is the easiest part, the best part, because all you have to do is focus on running. Leg 25 is also a very short leg at 3.8 miles (compared to some of the 7+ mile legs). Jen is waiting for me as I finish my leg and I am done!
I read on the Hood to Coast group page some advice about giving the runner that just finished a few minutes to catch their breath before heading to the next exchange. We were always so worried about making it to the next exchange, that we always seemed to be in a hurry to leave. Especially if Jordan was running. We became paranoid that he was so fast that he would beat us to the exchange.
Exchange 25 - I visit the port-a-potty with toilet paper that we stole from the Quality Inn and then we head out.
Leg 26 - Jennifer
Exchange 26 - I missed all of Jennifer’s other exchanges, so I make sure I’m there with my Insta360 to capture her exchange with Paul. I talk to a team from Chicago, perhaps they were the Deep Dish Dozen that left a magnet on our car.
Leg 27 - Paul
Exchange 27 - Paul hands off to Herna
Leg 28 - Herna - We cheer on Herna as we pass her on the road.
Exchange 28 - Herna hands off to Jordan. Herna gets 16 kills and is completely out of breath. We kind of rush her as now Jordan is on the course running a sub 7 minute mile.
Leg 29 - Jordan - We cheer him on as we pass him on the road. This is the most steep uphill of the entire race. Some vans stop at the top of the hill (mid-way through the leg) to cheer on their runner as they crest the hill. We very briefly consider doing that but then decide against it as the next exchange is complicated and we can’t take a chance with Jordan’s fast running and not being at the exchange.
Exchange 29 is where you drop off the runner, drive up a hill to a parking area, wait for your number to be called, then drive back down the hill to pick up the other runner. We set Jordan’s expectations that the entire team won’t be there because of the exchange rules.
Leg 30 - Barrie is hopped up on caffeine and runs way too fast.
Exchange 30 - We meet up with Van 2. Herna spots new artwork on their van, it is a crown with Andrea’s name.
Marly asks when Barrie will be coming in and we say about 1 pm. Barrie comes in at 12:44 pm and Katie is not in the exchange. She’s there, ready to go, but she thinks she has a few more minutes. When Barrie comes in and Katie’s not there, the crowd starts panic chanting Katie’s name. I see Katie talking to Jerry, I run toward her shouting and she runs as fast as she can into the exchange area. Later Barrie says the mishap only cost us about 10 seconds.
Drive to Seaside
Herna is behind the wheel. We leave Exchange 30. There are 2 different routes depending on which van you are in. There are volunteers pointing to the route that Van 2 needs to take, we turn and realize we went the Van 2 route so we quickly U-turn. Immediately on the Van 1 route, we see some men dressed as pigs directing us to parking at the “Saloon” restaurant. Jacque told me about this place multiple times because they have bacon and mimosas. They also have beers, bloody Mary’s, and burgers. We all get food and drinks and celebrate our Van 1 finish.

[@mugwhy]

Way kewl from NZ!..