The Tjebkes Family Website: Hood to Coast

It was EPIC! August 26-29, I had a getaway to Oregon. I went there to participate on a team with seven others doing the Hood to Coast Relay. It is the mother of all relays- the largest and longest- 197 miles from the top of Mt. Hood to Seaside, Oregon. Each team has 31 hours to complete it and you take turns running all day and all night. There are 1000 teams with 10-15 teams starting every 15 minutes throughout the day. Our team (#890- Iowa Educators Wolf pack!) started at 4:30 PM on Friday. I ran five legs for a total of 26.15 miles. I ran at 5:15 PM, 11:30 PM, 6 AM, 2 PM, and 6:15 PM. We had two vans with runners 1-4 in one and 5-8 in the other. Got one hour of sleep the whole race. With a team of eight (you can have up to 12), we were either getting ready to run, running, or recovering from running. Our team finished in 27 hours, 15 minutes, and 1 second. We placed 16th out of 77 teams in our division. It was the hardest 26 miles I have ever run- not used to jumping right into a van as soon as I am done running my fastest. Our team averaged a 8:17 per mile pace over the 197 miles. Very hilly mountainous route but also very scenic. My first leg was six miles down Mt. Hood. It was beautiful! The race finished with a huge beach party on the Pacific Ocean in Seaside, Oregon. This is definitely the most awesome running event that I have ever participated in!! What made it so great was my teammates. I could not have asked for seven better people to run with! Eight very different personalities but we got along great. I was definitely the cheerleader of the team even at 3 AM! We had a blast- even with no showers or sleep! It was a great bonding experience with a great group of friends! Seven of us were from the local Muscatine/Eastern Iowa area and our eighth team member was from Eugene, Oregon. She is a Face book Friend of mine that I finally got a chance to meet and run with. I hope to do Hood to Coast again (even though I told Jeff it was a once in a lifetime event!!). Thanks to Jeff and Gma and Gpa Tjebkes for everything they did so I could spend four days in Oregon. So appreciate you guys! They took the kids to the Children's Museum at Coral Ridge Mall for some fun. Kaelen was very interested in why I wanted to run down a mountain for four days. I do think I am a little closer insanity after doing Hood to Coast. Maybe some of you already thought I was there. Ha!