Paper: Capital Times, The (Madison, WI)
Title: TWELVE WOMEN AND A RELAY< MADISON RUNNERS MAKE MOUNTAIN-TO-COAST TREK
Date: September 3, 1997

A dozen Madison-area runners had a dream last winter to train through summer, join together as a team in August, and complete the heralded Hood to Coast Relay in Oregon.


They had determination, too: Calling themselves the Mad Women Menagerie, they would be just one of 15 all-women's teams within the larger field of 875 teams mostly all-men's and mixed teams of 12 runners each.The Hood to Coast Relay was staged Aug. 22-23 between the Timberline Lodge atop Mt. Hood, at 11,700 feet, and the tiny town of Seaside on the Oregon coast, 196 miles away.


With 10,500 individuals taking part on the teams, Hood to Coast is the country's most celebrated road relay. In its 16th year, it is formidable, the kind of event that gets feature coverage in Runner's World magazine. It demands teamwork over terrain that drains runners through the hot August days and cool August nights.


It's billed as the world's longest relay, and asks its runners to stay awake over 24 hours or more. When they hit the beach, they are sleep-deprived, but deliriously delighted with their feat.


The combination of Madison-area women who tackled the task were certainly up to the relay's rigors. Some of them are stalwarts of Madison's running community. Barb McCarthy, for example, is the commissioner for the Badger State Games 10K. She also has run more Syttende Mai races (17) than any other woman. Bonnie Spencer, who has run 33 marathons, ran her first one in 1975. And Suzie Neas is the coach of the local Team in Training, a national Leukemia Society of America fundraising effort tied into marathoning.


Moreover, most of the women in the group are 40 and older. The exceptions are Neas, who is 29, and Ann Heaslett, who is 33. Three have even passed 50: Mary Balistreri, who is 50, and Darlene Brightbill and Pat Connors, both of whom are 52.


Running Hood to Coast wasn't just an exercise in exercise; these women didn't run down the mountain toward the sea just because it was there. Running three legs each, sticking to a strict order of alternating, they were competitive. Even with most of their members over 40, the group finished sixth overall in the open women's category.


Because of the inclusion of the younger runners (Neas and Heaslett), the team couldn't be counted in the women's masters (40-older) category.


Hood to Coast is actually a cult thing, something that real runners do. It was that kind of comment, actually, that spurred the spirited women to make plans for Portland.


The group came together by knowing each other through running and several pre-established friendships. Only one woman who committed back in January to the event had to back out later because of job responsibilities, and a 12th was recruited to fill the spot.


Several of the women run together each Saturday morning, leaving from the Movin' Shoes store on South Park Street. They're not the only runners who leave from there for group runs regularly.


``One fellow mentioned last fall that if you haven't run Hood to Coast, then you haven't lived,'' Spencer said. ``Well, we had all certainly heard of Hood to Coast. And we thought, `We're '90s gals, we want to live!' So we decided we'd do it.''


Connors took the lead on organizing the group. The group would follow relay protocol of renting and traveling in two vans, hopscotching between exchange points. The legs varied from 3.8 miles to 9.1 miles. Each woman ended up running between 14 and 18 miles total.


They completed the course in 27 hours, 24 minutes.


For Spencer, the Hood to Coast experience was a personal turning point. She is one of Madison's most committed, active, longtime runner. She has run marathons in Paris, Oslo, Helsinki, Munich, Bermuda, Rio de Janeiro and elsewhere. In October, she will lead a group of Madison runners to Ireland's Dublin Marathon.


But three years ago, a car accident stopped Spencer from running altogether. A half-dozen doctors all told her to give up any hope of ever running another marathon. She had to leave her job as an administrator of oncology in the University of Wisconsin medical school. She had to focus on rehabilitation, and couldn't train consistently until last March. Until she could run regularly, she took up line dancing to stay active.


``I was going to run again, whatever it took,'' she said. ``Running this relay would tell me if I had the strength again, and if I had really healed. The fact that I was able to go out and run eight miles on the day after the event was pretty special.


``I feel very, very good again, and now I'm very confident I will be able to do Dublin.''


The women ran through the night, getting to experience the weird sensation of running in darkness. The entire experience was bonding for all.


``What we learned is that the total is greater than the sum of the parts,'' said Linda Garnett, 46.


``Pat had one of the most difficult three legs, and she handed off to me. Just watching her arrive at our last exchange, with a big smile, running the best I'd ever seen her run, was wonderful.


``She was sleep-deprived and food-deprived, but very joyful, strong and confident. It's one of the neatest images I'll never forget.''