Olsen Family Vineyards is pleased to announce Viridian Wine sponsorship of the 2008 Hood to Coast Race “Motherhood to Coast” team. August 22-24th.

(The following is from Cindy Swanson a member of the Motherhood to Coast team, and wife of Olsen Family Vineyards employee Jeff Swanson)

This year is a special year for us because for the first time we are sponsored by Viridian Wines! It was logical really. Moms and Wines are a natural fit! We have created special van decals with a Viridian Pinot Noir bottle surrounded by grapes and leaves with the words: We Run. We Sweat. We Wine.

About the Hood to Coast

The Hood To Coast (HTC) road race is a 197 mile running relay which departs from Timberline Lodge at Mt. Hood which is about 65 miles due east of Portland, Oregon. The terminus of the run is at the coast town of Seaside, Oregon. Imagine 11,000 runners converging on your town with one thing in mind: CELEBRATE!!!

There are 1100 teams from around the world who come to compete in this amazing logistical event. There are elite running teams from Europe as well as the big U.S. track and field schools and VERY competitive corporate teams. There are also teams like our “Motherhood to Coast” who compete just for the fun of it.

Here is how the race works: each team is comprised of two vans with 6 runners in each for a total of twelve on a team. Each runner has three separate legs to complete in the race for a total of 36 different routes to navigate until that shining banner at the beach indicates the finish line. Here is how it plays out: Each runner does their timed leg of the relay, which can range from 4 miles up to 8.5 miles with varying degrees of difficulty. Easy may mean the route is 5 miles but completely flat to the dreaded VH (very hard) which can be rolling terrain of 8 miles. The routes wander through country back roads as well as busy city streets. As runner 1 is completing her leg, her van mates are driving ahead to take runner 2 to the beginning of her leg. Runner 1 comes into “the shute”, passes the wristband to her and Runner 2 takes off. Runner 1 jumps into the van and the van drives ahead to the beginning of the next leg to let off runner 3. This continues until the 6 runners in Van 1 complete their legs at which time they meet up with Van 2 and give the now sweaty wristband to that van’s first runner. This is called a major exchange point because all the teams are making exchanges at this same, chaotic location. These are the only times both vans are together at the same place and can do a quick catch up on how the legs went, who is tired, who beat their anticipated times, etc. Then off goes the first van to rest, shower, eat then drive to the next major exchange. The race continues in this fashion, leapfrogging to meet the other van at three more major exchange points as the wristband is passed to signal the end of one van’s runs to the beginning of the next van’s runs. From the time our team begins until the finish line there is a runner on the road for 30 hours. The final leg (Leg 36) I call “the glory run” because that person runs into the mobs of finishers and well wishers at the finish line. Then the partying begins.

Teams start at various times throughout Friday depending on the cumulative total of the average projected 10K time each runner submits. The slower your team’s projected time the earlier you start so that ultimately all teams arrive at the big beach celebration within a couple of hours of each other. Our start time is 11:30 a.m. and we will finish in about 30 hours based on our individual projected 10K times. The elite teams begin about midnight and finish in about 13 hours to give you some idea of how fast they are (avg. 7 minutes per mile!).

To say that lack of sleep, navigating rural roads in the dark, changing sweaty running clothes, eating and coordinating “health breaks” are a challenge with 6 people in a van is an understatement. It would also leave out the group elation of finishing your leg ahead of your projected time, finding your missing socks, heck, finding your other team at the exchange point, getting the giggles at 4 a.m. and finally reaching the beach to look for the beer garden. It is the most fun you can have—if you are into group athletic torture. Some of the runners have participated every year since the first relay was held in 1978. Now that’s torture.

Motherhood to Coast

Our HTC team, MotherHood to Coast, has been around since we had babes in diapers, hence the name. The team formed about 12 years ago and while members have come and gone, the core 8 or so runners has remained the same. We range in age from 35 to 53, (but act about 25 throughout the race). We bonded years ago because we had two things in common: our love of running and kids. That led to the idea that we could actually have an entire weekend AWAY from our beloved little darlings AND run at the same time!

Pre-race most of the vans are decorated to show team spirit and it’s always fun to spot the teams you remember from years past. Some simply put their team name on the van’s side. Other vans are fully decked out with such things as coffins– Dead Jocks in a Box– to the Running Elvises who run each leg in a white sequined jumpsuit, Elvis wig and large sunglasses. As our children have graduated, so have our van decorations: from a baby doll in a stroller on top with diapers and McDonald toys pasted on the side to signs letting our fellow runners know that we are still HOT MAMAs!! The rest of our decorations are irreverent to say the least.

It’s now 60 hours until the start gun! We are packing our matching Nike outfits for each leg, buying water, sports drinks and carbs for the van and tapering our runs to prepare for the race.

We’ll see you on the road!