A Relay For Life Near You

Relay For Life, a part of the American Cancer Society, is a multitude of grass-root events that, when combined together, make up the largest charity event in the nation. There are 15 Relay For Life events within a 40-mile radius of Portland in July and August.

The Relay, as it is routinely called, offers everyone in the community an opportunity to participate in the fight against cancer. Teams of people camp out at a local high school, park, or fairground, taking turns walking or running around a track or path. Each team is asked to have a representative on the track at all times during the event, which runs overnight, usually lasting 24 hours.

Lisa Armstrong is one team captain that is helping to organize a Relay For Life at the Wilson High School track July 18, starting at Noon. Lisa has gotten Sumner College involved, which will be their first annual event with the Relay. Like most Relay For Life events, this calls for just a $10 donation, and there will be entertainment and a festive atmosphere. There is an ‘80’s theme, complete with a DJ, a flea market, and a silent auction. Salvador Molly’s will be catering the event, and bottles of MonaVie, the natural fruit-juice-based energy drink, will be sold at $4 each, with the profits going to the Relay. The Luminaria ceremony will be at dusk.

Go to relayforlife.org to find a relay near you, or simply show up at Wilson High School on Saturday – 80’s attire is optional.

Running in Bob Foote's Steps

Few people admit to ever have voted for Richard Nixon, although he won the Presidential ticket twice, and once by a historical landslide, so you have to figure that someone voted for him. Likewise, few race directors will admit that getting rich off producing an athletic event is even possible, although you have to figure that there's at least one person that has made some money in this area. If there is only one person who has achieved wealth from race directing, that person is Bob Foote, the founder and owner of the Hood To Coast Relay.

Of course, Bob Foote didn't set out to create a world-wide sensation, the race just evolved that way. What started as a lark decades ago among friends grew into the Mother of All Relays through unique circumstances, and to repeat that process today would be difficult. But, that doesn't mean others aren't trying to follow in his footsteps.

The first success at duplicating this type of team relay is probably Gordon Lovie's Rainier To Pacific, although it has come up short of the multi-million-dollar pay-off mark set by Hood To Coast. It still remains a great alternative to Hood To Coast, and it's both cheaper and less crowded. The 21st Annual Rainier To Pacific is this July.

Another local attempt at reproducing Bob Foote's sensational success is the Cascade Lakes Relay. It's likely that no relay will reach the magnitude of the original, but Cascade Lakes has achieved a great deal of progress in a short time, with 62 teams in 2008 in its first year, and over 100 teams registered so far in 2009. This second annual event will run July 31 to August 1, from Diamond Lake to Bend. Not unlike Hood To Coast, the Cascade Lakes Relay has become a family business, with Race Director Scott Douglass enlisting the Douglass clan to take on executive roles. Scott's father, Brian Douglass, is President and CEO of Smith Rock Race Group, which has produced the Smith Rock Sunrise Summer Classic in Terrebonne and a few other races over the years. The Smith Rock 5K, 10K and Half Marathon will be held this year on July 11.

Nationally, the Ragnar series has launched a huge undertaking, with 12 relay races in 12 different cites, from Washington State to Washington DC. It's doubtful that all twelve races will get the attention they deserve to become truly great events - perhaps they're hoping that half of their races will do well. Their one Northwest race is dubbed the Ragnar Relay Northwest Passage, running from Blaine, WA to Langely. The best part about this course is crossing Deception Bridge onto Whidbey Island, but you can experience this by running theWhidbey Island Marathon in April. Is there enough overflow of Hood To Coast excitement to maintain all the Ragnar Relays?

But wait, there's more. This year is the inaugural "Oregon Prelay" race, which is a Hood-To-Coast-style relay billing itself as a tribute to Steve Prefontaine. It's a back-road route from Portland to Eugene, running via Newberg, and down and to the east side of I-5, winding south through semi-rural roads in the Willamette Valley. This relay is put on by Epic Relays of 7 Summit Sports, who are based out of Denver, Colorado. It starts July 10, 2009, and so far looks to be less than epic, as they're desperately trying to give away team entries.

The Tenth Annual ORRC Fourth of July Run and Walk

This marks the 10^th year the Oregon Road Runners Club has put on a special event for their members and the running community.

“We want to keep this a free event for our members,” Board Member Dave Green says. “It’s one of the things our members receive for joining, and it’s great to have this family-friendly event for them.” But, the Fourth of July Run and Walk is also open for non-members. ORRC has been providing races for the community at large since 1970, and in keeping with that spirit, they’ve kept the non-member entry fee to only five dollars. After June 27^th, registration goes up to $10 for non-members, and $5 for members, which is still a really great deal. (Day-of-event registration is also available, at $10 for everyone.)

“This is a low-key, ‘just for fun’ kind of race,” says Race Director Alanna Woods. “A lot of people come out to run or walk their first 5k, or bring their kids to participate in the kid's run. We have door prizes instead of age group awards, so everyone has a chance to win.”

The event is July 4^th, at the Mentor Graphics campus in Wilsonville. There’s a 5K at 9:00am, a 10K at 9:15am, and the Kids’ half-mile run will start at 10:15am.

“My 85 year old father, Dale, and all his kids and some of the grandkids will be running with him to help celebrate,” says Joyce, a fan of the annual event. “We will be in red shirts, as we are calling ourselves "Over the Hill...and Dale. We so look forward to race day and having an amazing family memory made this day.”

You can find more information on this and other Oregon Road Runners Club events at www.orrc.net.

Why Give Money to the Forest Park Conservancy?

Here's a good race idea: limit the number of participants to 40, and charge them $535.00 each to run. That's $21,400 of almost pure profit.

That's exactly what the Forest Park Conservancy (formerly Friends of Forest Park) is doing with their "first annual" event called the "Run 20! For 20!" on Saturday, June 20, 2009. They're celebrating 20 years of cleaning up the trails by holding a 20-mile run on the Wildwood Trail. Each runner that registered is required to raise or donate $500, in addition to their $35 registration fee. If they fail to raise the total amount, the remainder will be billed to them.

But, it's for a good cause, right? Forest Park is the largest city park in the country, and is home to miles of interconnecting trails, including the Wildwood Trail, which runs over 30 miles from one point to the other. Yes, the profits of the event will go to the Forest Park Conservancy, which will use the money to hire people to work on the trail. But isn't it odd that this same organization persuaded the city to close the entire park to certain events, yet they are allowing themselves to put on an event for their own profit? Yes, the Conservancy is a registered not-for-profit organization, so no single individual should be profiting, but that doesn't mean the organization doesn't aim to make a profit each year. They have to at least break even after spending the money they they have budgeted for the year. And where does this money come from? It comes from you, if you would kindly donate.

Don't be fooled by political speak. The Conservancy doesn't own the park - you do. The Conservancy started as a "Friends of" organization, one of hundreds in the area. They kindly donated their time to help clean the trails of ivy, repair damage from inclement weather and mudslides, remove downed trees, etc. The City of Portland allowed the Friends of Forest Park a pseudo-stewardship status because they were the only people putting time, energy and money into maintaining the park and the trails. The City only had one full-time staff member to do all the work in Forest Park, so they happily allowed the "Friends of" organization to take charge of maintenance, which they were volunteering to do at no cost. And so, the Friends of Forest Park, bolstered by fresh rounds of donations, self-appointed themselves as the Forest Park Conservancy, and started raising money to pay for all the things that the City assumed that they were going to do for free.

So, now that we have entrusted the Conservancy to take care of the trails, where does it go from here? I've always thought that the work that they and other volunteers have done on the trails is great, but now I'm not so sure. I mean, if a tree falls over a section of the trail, would I rather vault over it, or have someone come in and saw the tree in half and remove it from the area? I'd rather vault over it. Would I rather leap over small creeks, or run over a bridge? I think I'd rather have the trail as wild as possible. The cleaner, nicer, wider and flatter the trail becomes, the more walkers and tourists will come, each with a baby stroller and four unleashed dogs.

Visit the Conservancy for more information.

Probably get more...

Hit the trail at 3:00pm, took my shirt off, and ran until dusk.

Where My Trail Shoes At?

I posted a blog back in December reviewing trail shoes, noting that it was more difficult to find the one or two trail shoes put out by adidas and Nike that I wear - the only ones I've found so far that fit. Of course, the trail shoe market has exploded, with sixty (60) different companies now specializing in trail shoes, so it would make sense if Nike, adidas, Puma and other running shoe mainstays avoid investing too heavily in this area - better to stick with track and field and road running (and soccer, golf, etc) than to compete heavily in such a market that is growing and evolving exponentially.

So, it might be time for me to start looking for a new trail shoe, especially now since my marathon training has ran its course and I'm now adding miles to compete on trail. And so it is fairly timely that I happen to wander onto the Oregon MUT blog a couple days ago and see a news post there from the Portland Tribune declaring the purchase of the END (Environmentally Neutral Design), the Portland-based running shoe company, by LaCrosse. LaCrosse, the mainstay boot manufacturer, is looking to get into the running shoe market. What's more, LaCrosse merged with Danner back in 1994, and both the Danner and LaCrosse brands operate out of Portland, Oregon.

END only has a couple running shoes at this point, since they're a brand-new company and has made a name for themselves through their committment to green and, well, environmentally neutral design. (They're not environmentally neutral, of course, but that's their goal, and they're supposedly greener than the competition.) So, I don't expect that END has a trail shoe for me, because I think at this point they only one very light trail shoe, and I'll have to compare them with the other 60 brands out there, but if they're now sharing technology with Danner and LaCrosse, then they just might build in that direction.

And this begs another, more important question to be asked - who wears hiking boots anymore When I was a kid, hiking over the Gorge, Mt Hood, the Central Cascades and other parts of Oregon, I had a solid pair of Danner boots. Yeah, I might get blisters if I hiked all day in them, but they were sturdy and tough - back then you'd be crazy to hike in running shoes. Old Converse, adidas and Nikes had relatively smooth, slick soles, and there just wasn't much in the way of protection or support. Now, however, I can run all day on those same trails in a good pair of trail running shoes. And if I snowshoe or hike - same thing: I'll be wearing trail running shoes. So, why would I need a hiking boot? Maybe if I was summiting a mountain, and spending a good amount of time in subzero weather...maybe. I think this is one reason why LaCrosse's profits were down this April, and why they decided to invest in the running shoe market. More on this later.

Getting Social with X-Dog

Densely forested rolling hills surrounding a lake in North Plains serve as a backdrop for a tropical themed party. Flowered tables packed with cold cuts and chips and dip, along with a large Gatorade jug dispensing mai tais, beckons campers dressed in aloha shirts, grass skirts, and coconut bras. Every drink has a tiny, bright, umbrella, and a stereo competes with the peacocks barking and screeching through the towering evergreens. This is Horning’s Hideout, the day before an X-Dog trail race. The campers are race participants, volunteers, and family and friends, gathering before the second annual Havoc at the Hideout.

Camping Saturday night for the Sunday morning race has a practical application, as it brings race organizers and volunteers together earlier so they have more time to prepare for the event. But more importantly, camping adds a social element to the whole experience.
“Other event organizers hold races where there may be a social factor involved, but our events are more of a social gathering where there’s also a race,” said Kevin Foreman, Race Director of the Havoc at the Hideout trail run and other X-Dog Events.

X-Dog is also one of the first race organizations taking full advantage of new social tools available online. They have a Facebook page, video posted on You Tube, postings on Twitter, and a Google calendar, along with email blasts and their own interactive website. These new online tools do not replace the social networks already formed by participants and volunteers, but they can work to help spread the word, serving as extensions of the race producer’s online existence. Many people at the Havoc had found out about X-Dog by simply searching on the internet for fun races near the Portland area. Once they do one race, they’re hooked.

“We were one of the first groups to sign up races with Active, so we’ve been bringing people in through the internet for a while,” Kevin said. “But, I had resisted using Facebook, Twitter, and all that stuff up until recently. For a while, with the MySpace pages, it looked like only kids were doing it, but now professionals are using Facebook, Linked In, and others. So, I finally had a meeting and said, hey, you’re either in front of it, or you’re behind it: let’s get in front of it. Plus, it’s all free advertising.”

This strategy seemed to work for the Havoc at the Hideout. They had one and a half times as many finishers this year than in 2008. Plus, last year the race was on a Saturday, and this year it was moved to Sunday, in part to allow participants and spectators to gather over the weekend. And it also helps to have an incredibly fun and challenging course set in a pristine woodland environment. The finish and awards celebration were also very popular, with a post-race feed featuring octopus salad and birthday cake, and pink lawn flamingoes given away as special awards.

The Havoc at the Hideout kicked off X-Dog’s summer race calendar. The Mt Hood Scramble on June 21 is already sold out, and the McCubbin’s Gulch Scramble on July 19 is filling up. The rest of the summer calendar includes the Tillamook Burn on August 2, the Great NW Mountain Run on August 18, and Ole’s Assault on September 13. For more information, visit http://www.xdogevents.com/.