Paper: Akron Beacon Journal (OH)
Title: RELAY RACE REVS UP AREA TEAMS AKRON RUNNERS REGROUP FOR 'ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME' EVENT THEY RAN LAST YEAR.
Date: August 27, 1999

An Akron-based team of runners that completed a once-in-a-lifetime relay race last year is in Oregon to do it again.


"It's a blend of three events: the Boston Marathon, Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade and Woodstock, all rolled into one," said organizer David Hunter of Silver Lake, an Akron attorney."It's just a gorgeous adventure. ... It was a once-in-a-lifetime event that we want to do again," he said with a wry smile.


Hunter's two 12-person teams -- one coed, one all-male, embark today on the 195-mile relay race from Mt. Hood through Portland to the Pacific Ocean. The event, which draws 12,000 competitors, ends with a giant beach party for 60,000 people on a Pacific beach tomorrow night.


"It's not as difficult as running a marathon, but it's a different kind of challenge," the 49-year-old Hunter said of the Hood to Coast Relay that bills itself as the world's longest running relay. "It was just an amazing, galvanizing experience."


Each participant runs five to six miles on each of three legs over 12 to 13 hours, and that includes at least one leg at night.


The race begins at Timberline Lodge at 6,000 feet on snow-capped Mt. Hood. Up to 25 teams depart every 15 minutes throughout the day. The Akron-based teams are slated to start tonight in a race to reach the finish line in Seaside, Ore.


Each team is off on its own for handling the logistics of getting to later stops along the route. For the Akron runners, that requires renting vans to shuttle team members from stop to stop along the race.


The toughest things are getting enough food and rest along the route and not getting lost in backwoods Oregon, participants said.


"Even if you are an accomplished runner, you simply can't comprehend the myriad of difficulties -- and potential disasters -- posed from competing in this event until you do it," Hunter said.


But despite the problems, the relay was simply fun, said two of last year's team members, both of whom are competing again this year.


"It's just such a good time," said runner Thomas Brown, 49, of Akron, owner of an ice cream store at Rolling Acres Mall.


The relay is appealing to runners because it's different than races where participants just compete against the clock, he said.


"The roads are pretty good although there's pea-sized gravel on several legs -- with some pretty dramatic downhills and lots of rolling hills," he said. "Running at night is a bit unnerving."


Runners at night wear safety vests and carry flashlights, although the Akron teams will be experimenting this year with lightweight head lamps used in caving, Brown said.


"It was a tremendous amount of fun," said John Adams, 43, of Fairlawn, of last year's race.


"It was more exciting as it went along because we were doing well. We were running faster than expected. We were competitive with the top teams and the pressure and excitement grew," said Adams, a Summit County Common Pleas Court judge, who ran 50 miles a week to prepare for the event. Hunter and his cohorts are very serious about their running. Last year, they finished in 18 hours, 54 minutes and 47 seconds. The 12-man team -- the average age was 35 -- averaged 5 minutes, 51 minutes per mile. They finished 11th out of 1,000 teams overall and third among men's open division teams.


This year's male-female team, nicknamed the Coed Ohioans with Acute Running Disorder Syndrome (the COWARDS), could be among the Top 10 teams in its division based on predicted times and seedings. The all-male team, nicknamed the Lactic Acid Droppers, is seeded among the top teams in its division. It is younger and faster than last year's team.


The idea of competing in the Mt. Hood relay came in August 1997, after local runner John Foland got married and was getting set to move to Oregon. At his wedding reception, Hunter and the other runners hatched the plan to compete in the relay.


The participants each put up $500 to $700 for airfare and costs associated with the race.