Paper: Oregonian, The (Portland, OR)
Title: ATLANTA TEAM LEAVES LITTLE ROOM TO IMPROVE NOW
Date: August 25, 2002

Summary: The track club goes from seventh to second to first in its three Hood to Coast Relays and beats favored Team Allegra to Seaside


Mike Strickland admits running on sand isn't easy, but Saturday, when he felt the beach under his feet, he said the "sweetest feeling in the world" washed over him.


Strickland helped pace the Atlanta Track Club to victory in the elite class of the 21st Hood to Coast Relay. The team covered the 198-mile course in 16 hours, 59 minutes, 27 seconds. The runners averaged five minutes, eight seconds per mile.To do it, the Atlanta team, seeded second, had to hold off No. 1 seed Team Allegra after alternating the lead overnight. Allegra, based in Summit, N.J., finished in 17:09:04, for a 5:11 average per mile. Allegra was fourth last year.


"Having another team so close was a big help, really," Atlanta team captain Jake Johnson said. "When it's late and it's dark, your mind can wander. But with Allegra so close, it kept our minds in it. We kept complete focus the whole time."


Baba Yaga, based in Monticello, Minn., was the fastest women's team for the second year in a row, finishing in 21:11:27, averaging 6:25 per mile.


The Atlanta Track Club finished second last year and seventh in its debut two years ago. Last year's winner, the Bucknell Alumni Distance team, and the third-place team, the Princeton Running Co., did not compete here this year.


The Atlanta team is made up of current and former college runners and at least one former professional whose career was knocked off-stride by a brain injury.


Australian Daniel Hill, 28, was training in Atlanta for the 2000 Olympics when an aneurysm in his brain ruptured. For a year, he was in recovery and rehabilitation. After 14 months, his neurosurgeon, also a runner, said he could start jogging.


"When I did that, a light went on," Hill said. "I'd been training by myself, running for a living, and I'd forgotten why I started in the first place. Now I have a different perspective. I can run with friends" -- gesturing to his teammates -- "and even if I'm slow, they'll be there for me to pick me up."


That sentiment was echoed by every member of the Atlanta Track Club team. All are or were successful collegiate runners, but after college, who runs as a team? There are marathons and other road races, but the Hood to Coast Relay is one of the few chances, they said, to recapture the feeling of being part of a team.


"That's why the transition can be tough for a college runner," Atlanta's Bill Stewart said. "There are a lot of things you miss when you're not on a team. That's what makes this race special."


Most of the Atlanta Track Club runners are based in Atlanta and some were making their first trip to Oregon. But Mike McManus, who lives in West Linn, is a veteran Hood to Coast competitor who was on winning teams in 1987 and 1992.


McManus was a last-minute addition to the Atlanta team last year. The team contacted him through Adidas, where he works and which is a sponsor of the track club.


The youngest team member is the aptly named Kyle Rabbitt, 20. McManus 39, is the oldest and he said he was able to share at least one piece of crucial strategy with his once-a-year teammates.


"When we were deciding who was going to run what legs, we had two choices: Young and aggressive and old and aggressive," McManus said. "Go with young and aggressive every time."


The Small But Slow team, captained by Jason Hipskind of Indianapolis, was the first team that started at Mount Hood to cross the finish line in Seaside. Because of the staggered start Friday, Small But Slow didn't win the race, but "it still feels awesome," to be the first team to finish, Hipskind said.


Arriving at the beach early Saturday morning were the top high school and walking teams, which started in Portland. The first team to cross the finish line was The Super Friends, of Vancouver, which finished the 128-mile Portland to Coast high school challenge, in 13:45:32, averaging 6:30 per mile.


The Race Walkers Northwest-Portland to Chaos team finished first in the 128-mile Portland to Coast relay walk in 21:21:27, averaging 10:06 per mile.


Molly Blue: 503-221-8161; mollyblue@news.oregonian.com