Race Recap

Post-race notes: Nathan claims ownership (and somewhat rightly so) of entire blog and its contents. Google 1 finishes (unofficially) first in the Corporate Men's Open Division and 7th overall. Weather was fantastic and with 11 men managed a stellar finish time of 19:41, 13 minutes under the projected pace. We dubbed the 4th leg trio (read: those who "volunteered" to run 4 legs to compensate for non-runner 12) Ghost of TP. We enjoyed a noble feast at Irving Street Kitchen in Portland, which I highly recommend. After another very, very early morning, we're all home safe and sound, albeit exhausted. Guys, as always, I'm proud of you. Thanks for another fun relay

6am @ PDX

So very, very early. Time to go home.

Results are in!

The (unofficial) results are in and it looks like Google1 has finally won the Corporate Men's Open category at Hood to Coast, placing seventh overall in a time of 19 hours, 41 minutes!

We ended up a good ten to fifteen minutes under our original projections, mostly due to some roaring opening legs that were quite fast and, well, unprojected.  Great job Van 1!  And great job to those who filled in for our missing 12th man!

Team dinner

The team finally had some real food -- some really good food -- at the irving st kitchen, before heading to crash for a few hours before flights back in the wee hours of the morning.  The sleep schedules remain crazy.

Van 1's all done

Van 1 finished up their last set of legs in excellent form. While Mike chased up a steep hill on leg 29 in ridiculous 6:13 pace, Ben enjoyed an estimated 100 kills on his last downhill leg. After refueling with burgers and coffee at the exchange, we're currently headed to the finish line in the coastal town of Seaside, OR. Let's hope we get there in time for van 2's arrival.

At the van exchange

We had a chance to take some inter-van pictures in the two minutes before we had to roll on.  Traffic is getting really bad.

Eddie tears it up after daybreak

Not sure exactly when this will post since phone reception here is really non-existent, but shortly after daybreak I handed off my second leg to Eddie, who tore it up for the next five miles.  I captured some of it with my camera, including the tailend of his superman pose.

At the van exchange

We had a chance to take some inter-van pictures in the two minutes before we had to roll on.  Traffic is getting really bad.

Eddie tears it up after daybreak

Not sure exactly when this will post since phone reception here is really non-existent, but shortly after daybreak I handed off my second leg to Eddie, who tore it up for the next five miles.  I captured some of it with my camera, including the tailend of his superman pose.

4 a.m.

Mike is out on the road. Ben is getting ready. Loren and I are passing out. Courtney is chilling. Grant and Kat are expertly navigating and driving us throughout the great state of Oregon.

Meanwhile, van 2 is passed out with no cell reception. Looking forward to seeing them again soon - and sunrise.

Nap time.

-Devin

Got pizza, get sleep

Van 2 having finished its first legs in excellent time, Kerry tracked down some late night pizza for Nathan. And while the pizza place had tempting beer and billiards, we opted to head for the columbus county fairgrounds where we'll meet up with van 1 again about 35 miles north and west of Portland just inland from the Columbia river.

I should also add that we'll have plenty of sleeping room in our spacious van, since we're short a man. Will rolled the extra leg for the first segment, and Eddie and Matt are taking on the other two extra legs.

N

Pizza

Stopping for what has become a google1 tradition. Averted catastrophe and tracked down a late nite pizza place for nates pizza fix. Said I wouldn't have any but will b hard to resist
Matt

Van 2 Progress

Van 2 is wrapping up our first legs. Unless you're will, who is
finishing his second run. He's the first of our three journeymen
runners who will be running 4 legs during the race.

Kerry is doing an awesome job with the driving. Now its time to get a
little shuteye because 4:08am will be here before you know it.

--
Sent from my mobile device

1/3 of the way done...

So we had a brief 'debate' in van 1, on whether we were 1/6 of the way to the coast or 1/3 after having completed our first round of duties in the race.

Distance- and leg-wise, we certainly would have to say 1/6 of the way finished, which turned out to be a bit depressing of a notion, seeing as most of us have been up for 16 hours, have run a pretty hard leg, and haven't had a square sit-down meal the whole day*.

Each one of us quickly agreed that we should consider ourselves 1/3 of the way to the coast, as we don't have to do any extra work before we pick things up at leg 13. Definitely a more optimistic way to look at things, even if it's less accurate.

On our way to the second van exchange, and hopefully a little shut-eye as well. We'll be stopping right by the Willamette river

1/3 of the way done...

So we had a brief 'debate' in van 1, on whether we were 1/6 of the way to the coast or 1/3 after having completed our first round of duties in the race.

Distance- and leg-wise, we certainly would have to say 1/6 of the way finished, which turned out to be a bit depressing of a notion, seeing as most of us have been up for 16 hours, have run a pretty hard leg, and haven't had a square sit-down meal the whole day*.

Each one of us quickly agreed that we should consider ourselves 1/3 of the way to the coast, as we don't have to do any extra work before we pick things up at leg 13. Definitely a more optimistic way to look at things, even if it's less accurate.

On our way to the second van exchange, and hopefully a little shut-eye as well. We'll be stopping right by the Willamette river, and get ready for our set of industrial/urban legs. Loren just had the bright idea to go bar hopping in Portland, seeing as it is 11pm. Have fun out there Loren. I'll be passed out on the front bench.

*I just have to assume this is the case for everyone else in the van, as they flew in from SF this morning. I luckily got in last night (though had a very long flight from Boston), and had a great meal at a laidback diner in Portland called Fuller's. Check it out next time you're here. I highly recommend the french toast.

Van 1 - done with our first legs

We're all done, 10 minutes ahead of schedule. Just a couple hours until our second legs. A tough decision now - stay awake until 2 am or take a nap?

Oh yes, a brief note about the first leg of the race. The one that starts at the top of Mount Hood and then drops 2000' in 5.6 miles. I can now personally confirm you don't run that leg, you survive it. The 4 Ibuprofen, 2 ice packs, and 3 massive blisters confirm this.

Van 2 - it's your time to shine.

-Devin

And we're off!

The very last starting wave is off, and Google One's own Devin is rolling down the 6.7% grade from Timberline Lodge on the middle of Mt Hood.  He busted to the lead at the start, we'll see him in 5.64 miles.  Enjoy the ridiculous view Devin!

And we're off!

It was a long and anxious wait up at the lodge on beautiful Mt Hood, getting colder and crisper by the minute, but worthwhile to soak up all the great views (and let all the bad food I mistakenly ate the last 24 hours digest just enough to make my run somewhat comfortable).

The 'gun' - the starter yelling 'Get out of here!' to the runners at the line - went off right at 6:45, and Devin took off in 1st, leading the fastest flight of the race. Flying down the hill as I write, he'll hand off to Loren who will continue down the mountain, then to me not too long after that. Hopefully it'll get a touch warmer as we drop in altitude...

Hood to Coast 2k10 is officially underway for Google 1 - see you on the flip side!

Grant

The final countdown

Only around an hour before kicking off our relay, everyone's getting changed in the van and the excitement's mounting!

The weather is beautiful up here at the start and lots of pumped up runners are very happy at the moment!

KC.

Hanging out at the Hood

We've made it to base camp. Currently hanging out at the start and painting our vans. Weather is gorgeous, we can't wait to get started.

Groceries...check.

I'm not sure how many calories we purchased but we're fuelled to survive 198 miles of running. And in the distance you can see why we will each burn so much fuel--mt. Hood

On the train

The team is headed to pick up our vans (read: chariots)

6:45am on BART

The team is awake (barely) and beginning the long journey to the top of Mount Hood.

sent from my nexus one

Blogger

Is it just me, or has Blogger gotten way better since Calistoga? Way to go, team with the embedded widgets and graphics.

18 hours to the start

The last weekend in August--we look forward to it every year. With it comes fall (or summer if you're in San Francisco), Labor Day (almost) and Hood to Coast.

This year though, the thoughts of the team are with Chris and his family. Chris has been our relay stalwart for 4 years and we'll miss him on the course.

Thanks for following us for another 200-mile ride!