Paper: Press-Telegram (Long Beach, CA)
Title: RUNNERS HIGH ON SUCCESS 
Date: September 27, 1995

They call themselves ''Runners High,'' and judging from their recent  performance in Northwest Oregon, they mean it.


Twelve members of the Long Beachbased running club certainly lived up to  their name the weekend of Aug. 25 in the 195-mile ''Hood to Coast'' relay  race, beginning the trek 6,000 feet up and finishing in the Pacific Ocean  resort town of Seaside as medal winners.The group had plenty of highs and few lows on its journey from the slopes  to the sea, as it finished near the top, sixth among more than 50 teams in its division in the 815-team race.


In the race, now 14 years old, each of 12 people on a relay team runs three separate legs of about six miles each, 36 legs in all. This year's course  started atop scenic Mount Hood in Oregon's Cascade Range, wound down through  portions of state and national forest land, cut through the city of Portland  and eventually made its way to Seaside, a town of about 5,000 near the  Washington border.


Joining about 10,000 participants who left at various times throughout the  day, Runners High began its trip at 8:30 p.m. on Aug. 25 with Steve Murphy  running the first leg.


After about 30 minutes, Murphy gave way to Mike Bojorquez, who was followed by Bob Kessler, Paul Sheldon, Arnie Holiday, Jeff Wills, Kent Smirl, Jim  Crawford, Dan Kelly, Shelly Kapfhammer, Jim Kelley and Ray Coombs.


The order was repeated twice more, with runners being taken to each stop by one of two vans that accompanied the team. After he and his teammates carried  on through the night and much of the next day, Coombs crossed the finish line  in Seaside at about 5:15 p.m., finishing the grueling race in 20 hours, 44  minutes and 35 seconds.


Their time gave them sixth-place medals in the Submasters category,  consisting of runners 30 and older. Their performance is all the more  impressive when considering that six of them - Murphy, Wills, Smirl, Dan  Kelly, Coombs and Crawford - are 40 or older (Crawford is 53), and Kessler is  39.


''Some of us were 30-something, the rest of us weren't,'' the 48-year-old  Murphy says, smiling. ''We were older than a lot of the teams we were running  against, but we did more than just hold our own . . . we won medals.


''It makes us all feel a real sense of accomplishment,'' says Murphy,  pointing out that a train near Portland delayed his second leg by nearly four  minutes may have kept Runners High from taking fifth place. ''We were on a  high emotional roller-coaster to say the least.''


This was the fourth consecutive year a group sponsored by Runners High - a  Long Beach equipment store operated by longtime competitive running supporter  Jeff Tribole - has entered the Hood to Coast race, but the first time it has  come home with medals.


''We started shooting for the top six last year, but we fell out of  contention due to injuries,'' Coombs says. ''This year, we stayed healthier  and everybody, to a person, turned in good performances. It was a total team  effort.''


Kapfhammer, the only woman on the Runners High squad, said she was  motivated more by the team concept than by any personal goals.


''It was a fabulous thing to be involved in because of the kind of people  you were with,'' says Kapfhammer, noting the camaraderie among Team Runners  High. ''These were all such great gentlemen and good runners that I felt like  I couldn't let them down. I was more worried about them than I was for  myself.''


With the exception of Murphy's train delay and some minor difficulties in  getting the vans to some exchange points in time because of traffic or  problems locating them in the dead of night, the Runners High race plan was  followed closely and successfully. On each leg, most team members finished at  the average time per mile they hoped to run each leg, or slightly faster.


``You keep drawing off each other's energy,'' Coombs says. ``When you're  inside the van and your turn is near, you can't wait to get started because  everyone is so supportive. You can really feel the adrenalin.''


Coombs has a hard time relating how he felt when he crossed the finish line on the beach in Seaside.


``It's hard to describe the feeling, but I guess exhilaration is as good a  word as any,'' Coombs says. ``I was really determined at the end. Murphy told  me I looked like I was running with a mission. After I finished I stayed up  past midnight because I was too pumped up to be tired. I carbo-loaded by  drinking beer.''