Hood to Coast

Last weekend I participated in an event called Hood to Coast.  Dubbed "The Mother of All Relays," 12,000 runners cover 197 miles, relay-style, from Mt. Hood to the Pacific Ocean at Seaside, OR.  Jason, my teammate, wrote an excellent description of it here.

Vans were decorated with paint, dolls, banners, and slogans.  Some folks were dressed as superheroes.  Others had glitter.  It was pretty weird to run down a backcountry road at 2am, sleep-deprived and sweaty in the cool night air.  The actual running -- less than 16 miles -- was less grueling than the sitting-stopping-cheering-running-jumping back in the van-sitting-eating cycle.

Overall, I marveled at the logistical backflips that must have occurred to orchestrate the movement of thousands of people and volunteers from the mountain to the sea over 30+ hours.  

Two areas with room for improvement of the event (in my opinion) were the carbon offset options and the waste management of the event.  I snapped these photos of some of the garbage options I noticed.  Mostly, cardboard boxes were provided at the transition areas.  The finish (the photo with the sand) had garbage and the option to recycle plastic bottles.  

A little volunteer action, coupled with some clearstream containers, might help future events.

Go team.