Paper: Darien Times, The (CT)
Title: From mountains to shining sea
Date: September 18, 2003

When a friend of Chris and Mimi Brophy of Darien turned 50, she wanted to celebrate big. Rather than opting for a birthday bash or a cruise, Lynn Massey decided she wanted to participate in the 22nd Nationwide Insurance Hood to Coast Relay.The 196-mile running race is a continuous two-day event that starts at the top of Mt. Hood in Oregon and makes its way 6,000 feet down to the Pacific Ocean in Seaside, Ore., via bike paths, highways, dirt roads, cities and small towns.


"It was an adventure," Chris, 40, said.


One that Chris was unsure he wanted to undertake. Although his wife runs nearly every day - usually with Massey - and has competed in marathons, Chris was not in as good condition.


"I was coming off 20 years of inactivity so my first reaction was OK, I'll drive the van," he said. "It didn't happen that way. Mimi convinced me to be a part of the activity."


In May, Mimi, 39, who has also never done a relay, began helping Chris train. By race day, the couple was ready when it joined 10 teammates, dubbed East Meets West, for the grueling run.


The team, comprised of the Brophys; Massey as captain, her husband, John, Carol and James Bildahl, Maureen Gile and Joe Carter, all o f Rowayton; E.A. Dugan of Rye, N.Y.; and Brian Cash, Jesse Rowe and Taylor Perin, all of San Diego, started the race at 5:15 p.m. Aug. 22, and reached Seaside 25 hours and 40 minutes later at 6:50 p.m. Aug. 23.


"Everyone ran better than expected," Mimi said. "We were in the top 15 percent of our category."


About 1,000 teams from around the globe, each made up of 12 individuals, took part in the race - up from only a handful of teams when the event started more than two decades ago. Each team is assigned two vans to pick up and drop off runners at the designated transfer locations. Every person ran three roughly six-mile legs with about eight hours between each, leaving barely enough time for resting.


"By the time we got back to the hotel, we would sleep for an hour before we had to get up and shower and get back on the road," Chris said. "Most of us didn't sleep from 7 a.m. Friday to midnight Saturday. We were running a lot of the race on adrenaline."


Still, Mimi said running was simple compared to trying to figure out the logistics.


"The directions were not always accurate, timing between runners was off, there were traffic jams," she said.


They also encountered unfriendly behavior. For instance, on one of her two night legs, Mimi had to wait for a traffic light before crossing the street in order to avoid getting ticketed for jay walking.


However, other people offered the runners pancakes and burgers -a nice detour from foods such as fruit, nuts and Saltines, which the runners usually feasted on in the van.


"Some towns really welcome you and some would rather not have you there," Mimi said.


While local hospitality helped, it was the great weather, the absence of injuries and the morale of fellow team members that kept everyone going to the finish line.


"There was a lot of camaraderie among the teams, especially as we got further into the race," Mimi said. "We had a lot of funny antics between people. We basically laughed for 25 hours."


That laughter got eerily quiet as runners pounded the dirt and pavement alone in the darkness, equipped with only a reflective vest and a flashlight. It was an initial concern for the Brophys and their teammates.


"A lot of us went out intimidated by the concept of running in the dark," Mimi said. "Surprisingly, it turned out to be the favorite leg of the race."


Not for Mimi, who got held up at a traffic light, and not for Chris, who veered off course and ended up adding a half mile to his first leg.


"That put a damper on my night run," said Chris, adding that his last run, which was also the second to last run of the entire relay, was his favorite.


Mimi also enjoyed her last run, where she was greeted with a faux finish line of toilet paper. The best part, though, was the beautiful landscape that wound through snow-covered mountains and opened up to sprawling farmland.


"The scenery was terrific," Mimi said.


But nothing could compare to the sight of the Pacific Ocean, which was not only spectacular in and of itself, but which signified the end of the nearly 200-mile relay.


"It was stunning," Mimi said. "There was the beach filled with all these people who had just achieved this huge goal together."


Such a positive experience is what makes the Brophys wary about doing the Hood to Coast Relay again, particularly if the next time is not as favorable.


"When we left, we flew out on such a high - no pun intended - that to go out one more time might ruin this experience," Chris said.


However, another relay is not out of the question.


"The wheels are already turning," Mimi said. "I would do another. It's a fun adventure."