Portland to Coast 1999 with the About.com Walking Team

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Portland to Coast '99

Portland to Coast Walk start, Delta Park Twelve walkers, two vans, three course volunteers, two drivers, two crates of bottled water, 126 miles and almost 31 hours from Portland to Seaside, Oregon.

Does it get any better than this?

The http://walking.about.com team came together the new-fashioned way: by email. I posted here on my site that I was sponsoring a team. I also sent out the pitch via email to the Walklist email group, the Racewalk email group, and my list of local walking friends. I ended up with a team composed of two women I hadn't met before, two walkers from the team I was on last year, and eight other walking friends I have known over the years.

This year the walking teams started from Delta Park in north Portland at times ranging from 4 am to 9:30 am, and one special start at 11:30 am for Caminata USA/Racewalkers Northwest. The times were seeded to ensure that walkers didn't outpace the checkpoint set-ups and yet would reach the beach by noon. Our team start was at 5:45 am. We arrived with our night equipment in hand - reflective vests and flashlight, and received our van placards. Arlene was the first walker. She lingered at the back of the start pack and we pulled away in the van to check up on her in a mile and a half. By the time we met her, dawn was fully breaking so we gathered in her flashlight and glasses and she continued on.

We called up our Van 2 to meet us as there was some confusion about what needed to be in each van, and our van ended up with ALL of the equipment. We could have waited until the van exchange in Seaside, but our drivers wanted to give each other a morning kiss (Elizabeth and Michael are married). We pulled into the first walker exchange point on the bluff south of the University of Portland and most of us ran to the porta-pot line. It was a very grueling wait - only three pots plus two flush toilets and plenty of coffee to offload for seemingly everyone in the whole race. Actually, the line was shorter than the ones we would see on most of the rest of the course. At most places on the course there are no businesses and there is a penalty for peeing in the bushes..

Photo: Porta-pot line is 15 minutes long at St. Helens

Jesse took the handoff from his wife, Arlene and we were off over the St. John's Bridge and onto Highway 30. There were fewer log trucks this year, replaced by gravel and rock trucks. Highway 30 is a four lane and is being resurfaced, which contributed rocks and dust to be thrown up with each passing vehicle.

We pulled up to the next exchange as the day was warming - it would be sunny and in the low 90's. I warmed up with some racewalking back and forth down the long parking area and stretching. Then I headed across the highway to use the "On-Deck Walkers Pot" and await Jesse. I was very pleased that Jesse and Arlene were almost exactly on the predicted timetable. We were not going for speed - I simply wanted to be able to predict times for meeting the other van. There are also penalties for sandbagging, so I didn't want us to be going much faster than predicted. This is difficult because most of my walkers never walked timed for speed, so they were very unsure about how fast they would actually go.

handoff Photo: Handoff between two of our walkers in St. Helens

As I got the race wristwrap I headed off down the highway at a good racewalking pace. I only practiced for speed for two weeks, but I was very happy for those two weeks - I was able to keep up a top pace on the rolling hills. The van stopped every mile and a half and our driver Michael or walker Charlie would get out to bring me water, which I very gratefully gulped. I got passed by a couple of racewalkers and passed a few other walkers along the way. I was extremely happy to see the exchange coming up - my pace was under 12.5 minute miles, the fastest I have ever gone during Portland to Coast. Imagine if I had trained for a whole month?

Charlie and Michael After handing off to Kathy, I got in the van but realized I needed to cool down and stretch out, so I grabbed our battery-powered fan/mister and a bottled water and volunteered to be the water girl. While waiting for Kathy along the road, I misted the other passing walkers and did a walking cooldown and stretching. I was also happy to get a call from our walker Gary who had arrived at the St. Helens exchange with our three volunteers, and from Van 2 who had successfully met up in Vancouver and were on their way to St. Helens.

Photo: Charlie showboats as Michael gives him some water along Hwy. 30.

Each team must provide three non-walker volunteers who are assigned along the course to be the workforce at the exchanges, start and finish. They have a four hour shift which can be any time of day or night.

Our van was a really nice bunch - the driver Michael and cheerleader Charlie were really great. Portland to Coast is more about group dynamics than walking - can you survive for 30 hours without sleep in a van with 6-7 other people who you may never have met before?

Team http://walking.about.com Van 2 We called up Van 2 after Heather began the last leg and they reported their position inside the giant fairgrounds parking lot. We met up with them easily, gave hugs, turned over the timing clipboard, and got into the porta-pot line. The bright pink signs I made for the vans showed up very well. There are 400 walking teams for a total of 800 walking vans cluttering the course. This year the organizers used the seeded starts to separate the 1000 running team vans, which start from Mt. Hood and catch up to the walkers on the second day, Saturday.

Sunning in Seaside Van 1 now had at least seven hours free as Van 2 walked their six legs of the course, over the coast range to Mist, Oregon. We elected to drive 1.5 hours to Seaside and check into the house we rented for the weekend, shower, grab some snacks, and return to the course. The day was glorious and we felt our 3 hours free in Seaside were worth the trip as we sat outside the house viewing the Pacific ocean roll in. Just being able to shower was a treat, but it was an unusual day for Seaside - warm enough to wear shorts, no wind, just spectacular. We were glad we could enjoy a bit of it.

Each team provides their own support throughout the race - water, food, first aid. We carried a cooler with bottled water and some snacks. We only had to use one of the Band-Aid Blister Block bandages, everyone was in good health by the end of their first set of legs.

Each leg is between 3.7 and 8.2 miles long, most of them are in the 5.5 - 6 mile range. The terrain varies from steep uphill/downhill to flat. Some stretches are graveled, others are the side of a narrow country road without shoulders, others are the bike lane along heavily-traveled Hwy 30. You have to stick with the rotation, so any walker must expect they will have some difficult terrain on their leg, especially if the order advances due to injury.

It was another 90 minutes driving back to Mist. Cell phones just don't work in this area, so we were unable to call Van 2 and ask where they were parked, if they were on schedule, etc. All we could do was to drop off Arlene at the exchange, park the van, and have me go to the timekeepers area. I spotted Van 2 as they were pulling into the parking area and assured them we were there. Nothing is so sad as a walker finishing and having nobody waiting to take the hand-off - a common occurrence due to the inability to communicate between vans.

Night on Portland to Coast Now it was night, around 9 pm and our walkers wore their reflective vests and carried flashlights as required. There was a full moon and broken cloud cover, plus 400 passing vans. This year there were fewer oncoming vehicles, which was a big improvement.

Photo: Walkers to the right, vans to the left through the misty night

We saw our share of "night runners" those walkers who break into a run whenever there are no passing vans until they come up behind you, then they slow to a walk while passing. At least six teams received 90 minute penalties for running. We saw a couple of vans who pulled off the road in the wrong place and needed to be pulled out of the ditch. The rule is - all four wheels off the road over the fogline - but you have to pick your spot carefully!

I started my leg a little before midnight. It was one I did five years ago, during which I felt like it was a spiritual experience to be out walking in the dark as fast as I could. Now that I can walk faster at a higher exertion level it was far less fun, but I was grateful for the cooling air and the lack of oncoming traffic. I got passed slightly less than I passed other walkers.

Each of our walkers in turn completed their legs, usually hitting their predicted times on the nose. After our final walker, Heather, started her leg, we waited a half hour in the back-up before the infamous Quarry exchange. I was ready to leap out if Heather overtook our van, and walk in with her with the timing clipboard so we could hand off to Van 2. But we beat her there and I was happy to see Gary and Jim from Van 2 ready for the hand-off. I assisted a poor walker who finished with a bladder ready to burst but nobody from her team to exchange with - she was not allowed to leave the exchange area and the porta-pot was a tantalizing 20 feet away from there. I spotted her teammate - who hadn't spotted her, and dragged both of them together so they could hand off and she could use the porta-pot!

Now we headed to Seaside, which should have been a half hour drive but became a 90 minute drive due to the backup before the Olney exchange and slower traffic along the highway. Driver Michael was drowsy but managed to drive us there safely. We tumbled into our beds by about 6 am. By 9:30 am we were all up again and showering and wanting to eat a real breakfast. I went with Charlie and Michael to the Pig'N Pancake, where the lines outside were as daunting as those in front of the porta-pots along the route. Luckily they only waited a few minutes, and I enjoyed a crab omelet. The place was huge and packed with walking and running teams who were either Van 1 (waiting for Van 2 to finish) like us, or teams where both vans had already finished.

Our Van 2 contacted us via the cell phone and gave us their estimated time of arrival as 12:30 - 12:45 pm. We went down to the beach where the finish line was set up on the sand, already surrounded by milling teams of walkers and runners and their supporters - a crowd of 65,000. The day was beautiful with no wind, warm temperatures. The finish area also had a stage with live music, food booths, beer garden, sports massage, and sponsor tents.

The expected walking winners had indeed come in already, Caminata USA/Racewalkers NW with a time of 19:41:25, beating the next finisher,8 is Enough, by over two hours. That is a pace of 9:20 minute miles overall. I noted, as others did, a big increase in athleticism and speed for teams overall this year - looks like lots of people have been practicing for speed.

A big source of entertainment for those waiting, as well as all along the course, are the funny and clever names of the teams. This year we saw: Big Trucking Deal (some of my friends from a trucking company), Born to Blister, White House Interns, Soar Feat, ZGF Gasping Goddesses, Late for Lattes, Pedex, Bleu By You, Portland to Where?, Nike We Can Chew and Do This, Walking In Ways Never Imagined (which apparently meant running as they got a penalty for doing so), Saggers N Waggers (a mixed-sex masters team, hehehe), Is There a Doctor in the Van, DNR - Do Not Run, One Fool in Front of the Other, Really Stupid Idea, and our favorite: IB Walkin', IB Sweatin', IBprofen. See the rest of the list at the Hood to Coast site. Most had team t-shirts and some dressed up in costume as well. Our shirts had walking computers on them.

Our team finishes We were very happy to see our Van 2 mates on the beach - aided by the parking spaces we got with the house rental. Last year our Van 1 missed the finish because they couldn't find parking fast enough. We watched as Team Buns and Roses finished - their last walker a one legged walker on crutches who got lots of cheers and his photo in the paper.

We heard them announce our team number and got into the finish chute as Carolyn came down the "prom" (the concrete walkway or promenade) and onto the grueling, slowing sand to the finish. We walked in together, got our medals and off to the photo area. We did great - arriving within a half hour of my predicted time for a finish of 30:55:50.

The finish Now we could enjoy the beach as well as finally get some sleep. Some split off for the outlet mall. I took off to the grocery store to shop for food for our team spaghetti dinner and breakfast at the house. We had a great time and most of us kept flying on adrenaline so we were able to go listen to Johnny Limbo and the Lugnuts at 7 pm. Most of us danced on the beach there with the thousands of other walkers and runners until 9:30 pm. Johnny was limbo-ing until 11 pm, but we gave in to exhaustion.

Want to join the team? We may have some open spots for walkers or volunteers for 2000. See our requirements. This year the 400 walking team slots were filled by late March, although many teams had vacancies. The Hood to Coast site has a team matching address for walkers looking for a team, and there were hundreds on that list this year.

Team http://walking.about.com