(The following is a recap from Cindy Swanson of the Viridian sponsored team “Motherhood to Coast” in last weekend’s annual Hood to Coast race. Go team!)
Ruthie and Cindy -- Motherhood to Coast Teammates
Close the books on another great Hood To Coast! As The Green Man observed from his perch on the back of each van window, we competed with all that we had to give! We had almost perfect weather, dodging the rain on both ends of the event. The Friday afternoon runs were pretty warm, but the late night/early morning runs were cool and clear with the moon and stars lighting the way. The usually dusty logging roads towards the coast were calm due to the heavy rains on Wednesday. That meant no face masks and no visibility problems which usually happen with vans driving by stirring up the chalky gravel. As the last of the 36 legs were tackled, the coastal breezes kicked in for nice runs into Seaside.
The Logo on the Side of the Viridian Van
This year’s race seemed almost easy in terms of logistics because of our matching team jackets! Usually it is so hard to locate our teammates in the super large crowds at the major exchanges. As the runners get closer and closer to the finish, huge crowds grow and traffic backs up as the multiple paces converge to arrive at the coast simultaneously. Picture thousands of people, dark locations and tiredness setting in to dull the senses after taking turns navigating and running. Not this year—as we scanned the throngs of people our raspberry teammates from the other van were beacons! That was such a coup to cut down on searching to hand off the master stopwatch and clipboard where times are recorded. That bonus clearly bodes for new outfits for next year!!!
The 2008 Viridian Sponsored Motherhood to Coast Team
Our twelve personalities mesh so well as one team-it seems we have a person for every situation: I’ve already mentioned our personal wardrobe consultant. We also had a ‘personal chef’ take care of all the food; one ‘Mutha’ was our historian capturing Kodak moments from beginning to end (pictures to follow). Our artist made the 2′ x 3′ van decals, our DJ made CDs for the musical side of the entertainment and stand up comediennes rotated in and out with routines getting livelier and funnier as the lack of sleep set in. We had drivers and co-pilots who maneuvered us from leg to leg and singers, dancers, air guitarists and coaches who were ready with a cold drink, a stopwatch and words of support at the end of each leg.
One moment brought us up short as we were shocked and saddened by the high school girl who was hit on Highway 30. It gave pause to realize we really are vulnerable out there, despite the good time we are having. Parents and loved ones called to make sure it wasn’t one of us and we all said a silent prayer. It turns out the person hit has multiple broken bones, but will survive.
We reached the beach only 45 minutes off our projections, in time to get our team picture snapped, collect our medals and hit the corporate tent for the anticipated libations and a real meal. Until then we’d subsisted by carbo-loading bagels, water, sports drinks, soda, caffeine in a variety of forms (watermelon flavored buzz beans, anyone?), peanut M&Ms and Cheezits. What starts out looking like junk food heaven soon turned into “if I eat another fill in the blank I’m going to hurl!” Although we burned massive calories by running an average of 15 miles, I have a feeling many diets started again today.
Aside from the team camaraderie, the best part was people coming over to find out about the wine. Who is Viridian? Where can you buy it? We loved bragging about the Pinot silver medal win at the Oregon State Fair and posing in front of our giant Viridian Pinot van decal with the words “We Run. We Sweat. We Wine.” We felt like Olympians with endorsements! I even met someone whose brother works for Olsen in the fields. It was great fun.
So, as the post race glow subsides and the aches and pains set in, we send a special MotherHood thanks to Olsen Family Vineyards for your support and sponsorship this year. Maybe next year we offer tastings at the exchanges…. No, on second thought we’d never make it to the beach!
