Paper: Oregonian, The (Portland, OR)
Title: HOOD-TO-COAST BECOMES FIXTURE
Date: August 28, 1989




The growth of The Oregonian Hood-to-Coast Relay from eight teams eight years ago to 700 this past weekend should be ample proof that the event has arrived as an annual attraction.


The finish line was moved from Pacific City, south of Tillamook, to Seaside, farther north on the coast, making it possible to accommodate 8,400 relay runners, as well as 1,400 accompanying vans with support teams.The explosion of entries likely will result in a lottery to determine the field for the 1990 event, scheduled Aug. 24-25. Meet organizer Bob Foote could not have been happier with the acceptance of the race by the Seaside Chamber of Commerce, which provided 300 volunteers to set up the finish area at the 12th Street access to the beach on the North Prom.


Moving the race's finish line was a popular decision among the participants. The throng that descended upon Seaside at the height of the summertime tourist season added to the carnival atmosphere of the coastal playground and pumped thousands of dollars into the community.


Housing and eating accommodations were taxed to capacity and traffic was bumper-to-bumper north of Broadway in the evening hours, when the teams were rushing to the finish line.


Foote said reconfiguring the 187.2-mile course required 2,000 miles of travel and 200 hours of time by course director John Kelly and Forrest Abel, who restructured the 36 legs from the 6,000-foot elevation start at Timberline Lodge's lower parking lot to the sea-level finish at Seaside.


Fifty ham radio operators covered the course to provide emergency help.


The winning Killer B's team included six past and present University of Oregon runners -- Dave Harding, John Truax, Terrance Mahon, Shimi Sebag, Will Kimball and Seth Simonds. Mahon, 18, was the youngest of the 12-man team and team captain Greg Gustafson the oldest at 34. Gustafson ran for the University of Utah and was joined on the team by Bill McGrath, Colorado State; Mike Lynes, University of Montana; Chip Pierce, Washington State; Ed Jassmin, University of Wyoming, and Pat Williams, Portland State.


What the Killer B's fear in the future is that teams will load up with world-class distance runners and that tendency may have already started. Avia had Eamonn Coghlan, a world-class runner from Ireland, on the course.