Paper: Oregonian, The (Portland, OR)
Title: HOOD TO COAST COMPETITORS AGE WITH RELAY RACE
Date: August 25, 2000

Summary:  More older athletes are among veterans and first-timers in this weekend's event


Joyce Brown didn't care that she was almost 50 or that she had started running only two years earlier. In 1982, she dedicated herself to competing in triathlons. Her training eventually led her to the Hood to Coast Relay, which she has run every year for more than a decade.


Brown represents a recent trend in the Nationwide Insurance Hood to Coast Relay, which kicks off today at Timberline Lodge. The race has become grayer, as older and fitter residents join and as longtime participants return, another year older."We actually created a new category (the supermasters) a couple of years ago because of that," said Linda Stirling, a spokeswoman for Hood to Coast. "Also, the average pace has changed. The field in the Hood to Coast has slowed by an overall time of about two hours in the last four years."


Today, Brown, now 67, takes off with the Silver Streakers, a team sponsored by AARP. The group began organizing its team late last year to promote health and fitness among the elderly, according to Deborah Lee Moore, an AARP spokeswoman.


Ages on AARP's teams -- the organization is also sponsoring a squad in the Asimba Portland to Coast Walk -- range from 50 to 81.


"Being physically active really does improve the quality of your life," Brown said. "I know it's trite to say that, but it's true."


The growth in older participants has accompanied the growth of the race -- the 195-mile race features 1,000 12-person teams; the first race in 1982 had eight 10-person squads.


Erik Sten, 56, captain of the Pace Setter Gray Hounds, ran on the Hood to Coast's first winning team in 1982 and assembled an elite over-50 team for this year's race.


"People love the challenge," he said. "It's a group thing, which is a bit unusual for running. And it's a matter of teamwork. When everything goes together well, it's a lot of fun."


Sten's team features Priscilla Welch, who won the 1987 New York Marathon at age 42; John Campbell, who set a masters men's record of 2:11:04 in the 1990 Boston Marathon and was named the Outstanding Masters Runner of the Quarter Century by Runner's World magazine; and Judith Hine, who earned a top-50 finish among women in the 1999 Boston Marathon.


The team ran last year as the East Bank Blast from the Past and broke the mixed supermasters division record by 48 minutes.


"A lot of us have been doing the race for a good number of years," Sten said. "Racers coming back and getting older is just the natural progression."


Sten's experience -- his squads have won their division in all but two years, finishing second in the others -- has made him into something of an unofficial expert on the race. For the fifth straight year, he released a training guide for the Hood to Coast, called "36 Legs 24 Feet."


Competition isn't the only reason for runners to scramble to register their teams -- the race had its 1,000 squads signed up by last December.


Brown said she's more attracted to the event's quirky scheduling than any challenge it presents.


"I don't think it (the relay) is physically that difficult because the legs aren't really that long," Brown said. "It's the schmoozing that you do at the exchange points and the camaraderie in the van that I really love. It's a little 24-hour adventure."


Race officials hired 24 ambulances to help with medical concerns during the race. Although some medical incidents are inevitable -- one runner had a heart attack during the 1998 race -- Stirling said that the medical staff can only be reactive and that runners must take their own precautions, such as staying properly hydrated.


Joyce Bahler, 70, joined the AARP relay team after talking to Brown, a longtime training partner.


"It (the Hood to Coast) is a challenge, and it's fun; it's exciting, and you meet a lot of interesting people," said Bahler, who started competing 15 years ago. "When everything is lined up right it can be a great experience and a terrific time."


You can reach Gil Lopez at 503-221-8029 or by e-mail at gillopez@news.oregonian.com.