When friends ask if you want to run a free relay, the answer is always "yes" 🎉
Tina and Kevin had extra entries to the Hood to Coast Turkey Trot the night before Thanksgiving. I'd always been interested in this race, which zooms through the Christmas-light display at Portland International Raceway.
Expecting horrible traffic the night before Thanksgiving, we left Tigard super early to get to north Portland. Surprisingly, it didn't take too long to reach Delta Park, so we grabbed some dinner at Shari's. Wednesday is free pie night, so we also had to eat pie. Perfect pre-race fuel! 😁
We drove across the freeway to PIR and arrived about the same time as Tina and Kevin. Check-in was easy, and we all ended up with arms full of goodies, including shirts, mugs, samples, dinner rolls, and pumpkin pies! SCORE!
None of us had done this relay in the past, so we weren't sure what to expect. The weather was dry (thankfully), but it was really cold and windy. I dressed warmly and brought tons of warm-up clothes to wear in between laps. Since I'm a super-sweaty runner, my biggest fear was freezing between laps. We also brought chairs, blankets, and hot chocolate. We set up a little basecamp of sorts near the start/finish line. I wish we had photos! It ended up working well.
It's a four-person relay where each runs two laps around the race track - just under 2 miles each. We ran Tina, Kevin, Liz, and Brad as the anchor.
The first lap was crowded, but by the time it was my turn, traffic was lighter and I could pick my line - until I reached the junction where the 5K joined the relay course. It's the prettiest part of the course, and many were stopping to take photos in the light tunnel. Still, it wasn't too hard to get through. The track is flat, and with the cold weather, I ran faster than I expected, finishing the first lap at an 8:09 average.
The start/finish was a bit unorganized, and finding our runner for the handoffs was the hardest part.
I bundled up and waited for my turn to come again.
By the time it my second and final lap came up, the 5K walkers were mostly done and the fast relay teams were done. The track was pretty empty, especially on the dark back side.
I took the second lap a bit slower, wanting to enjoy the lights a bit instead of just zooming past. The east wind was whipping for the home stretch, adding to the challenge. I finished with an 8:31 average.
The added bonus was seeing a bunch of my running buddies right in that final stretch! We shared greetings as I ran past.
Thankfully, Brad ran fast so we could finish and go home before turning into popsicles!
Happy, satisfied racers:
I had a blast doing this race! I'm very glad it was cold and not wet. If it had been raining, maybe we could have brought a popup tent for shelter??
Team Turkey Chasers finished in 2:05:55 and took 26th place overall with an 8:08 average. We were 2/5 in our Mixed Masters division! YIPPEE!
I would definitely consider doing this race again!
Thanks for the entries, Tina and Kevin 😊
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