Portland to Coast (almost)

Hello everyone!

I had a very interesting weekend. We started the Portland to Coast relay race on Friday morning. This is the largest walking relay race in the world (129 miles) and coincides with the Hood to Coast relay where teams run from Timberline Lodge on Mt Hood to Seaside, Oregon (197 miles). Camille was our first walker and she left the east side of the Hawthorne Bridge at 7:15. We headed east to the next exchange point where Elaine took over. We made a quick detour over the St John’s Bridge to get coffee at Starbucks before heading to the next exchange where Carrie took over, walking a long stretch.

This year we were a team of 8 rather than last year’s 12 so we were all riding in a single van, a Suburban borrowed from one of Elaine’s friends. We decorated the windows and ate snacks. We stopped a few times to give Carrie some water before heading to the next exchange point. I took over for my first leg, a flat 3.3 miles. It was starting to get warm at this point and I realized very quickly that all my hiking wasn’t really doing me any good in this event. I’m used to hiking on trails which are significantly softer than the pavement along the side of Hwy 30. Also when I hike I stop to take photos or just enjoy the view and then eat lunch in some lovely mountain meadow. I’m not usually walking as fast as I can. My shins began hurting quit a bit and I was dreading my two remaining legs which just got longer and longer. I cursed as I got caught at the traffic light crossing the street. I got to the exchange point where I passed off to Molly. I drank some water and piled into the van where we drove to the next exchange point to rest for a bit. We pulled out the coolers and ate some food and laid in the shade. Molly passed off to Melissa and it was definitely warming up in the afternoon sun. Molly got some food then we headed off to the next exchange.

Melissa handed off to Karen and we began our climb up into the foothills of the Coast Range. It was very warm so Karen was both drinking the water we handed to her and dumping it over her head to cool herself off. She was really walking fast up those hills. She handed off to Gina who was the last walker on our team to go. Her leg was very difficult with huge long hills under the hot hot sun. She felt a headache coming on so we gave her some ibuprofen along with some water. This was worrisome as she is prone to getting migraines. It was really hot out and she was walking with no shade. We brought her a hat and a cold, wet towel to hang around her neck which helped significantly.

Gina handed off to Camille and we began our second rotation. Camille’s leg was along a gravel road which really sucks both because of the uneven surfaces and the dust kicked up by the passing vans. Camille had a great time walking, dancing to music on i-pod, so much so that at one point she fell down and scraped her hands and knee. Elaine took over for the next leg. It was finally starting to cool down which was a relief to all of us but other problems cropped up. Gina’s condition was deteriorating. She felt nauseous and pulled over for her to throw up at one point. Carrie runs a traditional medicine clinic and gave Gina some acupuncture in an attempt to make her feel better. She was drinking tons of water and trying to eat food she could keep down but she was feeling awful.

Carrie took over and was really flying, passing lots of other walkers. This is called road kill and lots of van keep track of it with tally marks on the side of their van. I was up next. Elaine massaged my shins for me before I walked which really helped with the soreness. My 2nd leg was 4.9 miles on very flat terrain. It was so lovely to watch the last of the light drain out of the sky and see the stars come out. I listened to music (mostly playlists that I had made and the Liars). My right foot began hurting but nothing too bad. It was nice and cool outside which was far more pleasant than walking in the hot sun. I passed off to Molly. Carrie and I each took a beer and drank them on the side of the huge field at the next exchange point. We returned to the van and it became clear that Gina was very sick. She had gotten a full fledged migraine and thrown up a few more times. While I was walking they took her to an EMT station along the race course where they told us she was dehydrated and probably had heatstroke. Well we knew that already.

Molly passed off to Melissa and we continued the discussion of what we should do. There was talk of Gina’s boyfriend picking her up but it was so late already and it would take him so long to get to us that it wasn’t really a viable option. We decided then that we would pull out of the race. It was 12:15 (at night) so we had been walking for 17 hours and were about 2/3 of the way through the course. The consensus was that this event was supposed to be fun (with just a little bit of pain) and it was no longer fun for any of us. Gina was completely miserable and we had to get her out of the van and into bed. We decided to head straight for the beach as we could get there faster than back to Portland.

We had planned on using Emily’s house on Saturday to take showers but instead we would end up sleeping there (well sort of). Emily was out of town but said we could use her place after the race. She works for the Forest Service and is currently living at Camp Rilea, a military base on the northern Oregon coast. We must have been quite a sight rolling into the base in the middle of the name, a van jammed with girls with “Fast ‘N Nasty” (our team name) plastered all over the side of the van. We pulled up to her cabin/barrack and unloaded our stuff. We put Gina in Emily’s bedroom and hoped she would feel better and be able to sleep. We were not prepared for this. We hadn’t planned on sleeping Friday night so only one person had a sleeping bag while a few of us at least had pillows. We had to improvise and use whatever we could. Our sleeping bags and camping stuff was all in Andy’s trunk (Molly’s husband who was to meet us after the race). I drank a beer with Elaine, Camille & Carrie outside as the fog rolled in. People shared blankets and I used my groundcover sheet as a blanket. I showered at 3 AM and eventually went to sleep at 4 AM.

I awoke at 6 AM to see half of the team with their coats on and ready to go. One of their husband’s was meeting them halfway. To make a long, messy story somewhat less longer I’ll cut to the chase. Half the team left while Camille, Carrie, Elaine & I stayed at Emily’s place and tried to get more sleep. Saturday morning Carrie and Camille (sleeping outside) woke up to gunfire as shooting practice was taking place just over the hill. It was all very bizarre. It turned out to be a beautiful day, warm and sunny. The rest of the girls showered and we packed up our stuff and decided to leave the twilight zone strangeness of the military base and head for Cannon Beach.

We went to a pub in Cannon Beach for bloody mary’s (double please!) and food, warm food that didn’t come out of the back of the van! We hung out in the sunny outdoor eating area sharing pitchers of beer and happy to be done with all the craziness and just relaxing. We left the pub and drove the few block’s to Paul’s beach cabin. Paul was on a team that had run the Hood to Coast so they were expected to be there that evening for a big pasta dinner. The first order of business was to actually go to the damn beach! It’s just a half block from the beach. It was so wonderful to walk in the sand and feel the warm sun on my face. Tide was low so I felt compelled to walk down to Haystack Rock where there are tide pools. I realized quickly that I shouldn’t be walking so far on my gimpy foot but I went on regardless. I went back to meet the girls and we sat in the sand and watched the sun set. Back at the cabin we set up our tents and greeted the runners as they started arriving. A wonderful pasta dinner was prepared and everyone ate and relaxed. We drank a few beers but everyone was exhausted. The Hood to Coast runners hadn’t slept in 36 hours (and they’d collectively run 197 miles) so they were exhausted. People stumbled off to their tents or the beds upstairs. I saw a shooting star just as I was about to lay down. I slept very well.

Sunday was another beautiful day and it was difficult to leave the beautiful beach but we were all anxious to just get home. We stopped for a mediocre breakfast and hightailed it to Portland. We unloaded the van and dispersed to our homes. I spent the day just lying on the sofa and watching Netflix. What a weekend! I had fun but I’ve decided after two years that I will no longer do the Portland to Coast. The next time I want to go to the beach I’m going to drive there. Next year I could offer my services as support to the team as I’m sure a group will sign up again. My foot is immensely better but it still hurts when I walk on it for more than 5 minutes so I’ll be taking it easy for a while. Today is my last 10 hour workday and then I’m back to 5 day work weeks. All of this will force me to slow down. This will be my first weekend in Portland since June 17 (though I might go up to Trout Lake just for one night!). Summer is winding down around here. We had our full fledged rain the other day, the first in a long time. It even snowed several inches up on Mt Hood and the news showed people skiing! It won’t last as it’s supposed to be back in the nineties for tomorrow and the rest of the weekend. I’ll enjoy the warmth while it lasts. Soon enough it will be misty days of clouds and moss and wool sweaters and tea & baileys. Summer has been very good to me but I need to slow down for fall.

Please let me know how you are and what you’ve been up to.

Xoxo,
carolyn