Hood To Coast Recap

Wow, what a weekend it was. Here's my unofficial trip report from our first HTC.

Well we really enjoyed ourselves this year at our 2nd relay (Wasatch Back was first) and 1st HTC.

Summary Positives: Awesome running-centered buzz everywhere on the course. Lots of enthusiastic people and the community all know about it. Good organization (except as noted below) and nice volunteers.

Great start line and finish line atmosphere. Great post-party (even if you are too tired to fully participate).

Negatives: Traffic on the course is awful. Exchanges 24-36 were a virtual parking lot. Teams had to send team members ahead with clipboards to the next exchange because their van couldn't get through the traffic. In general every exchange late in the race was screwed up some how with 30 being a major screw up. You would think after 30 years they would have this down a little better or maybe it's the best they can do and they expect us to live with it. (Easy to do when you sell out on the first day).

You also run on more busy roads than I would like. In the rain with no shoulder it got a little dicey. These were roads/conditions I would never run at home due to safety concerns.

It's a shame the course logistics broke down a bit when most of the runners were already grouchy/worn down from lack of sleep. But overall it was a blast. The shared experience and camraderie are incredible. To anyone who has not tried a relay I would strongly recommend it. I would be interested in others impression of the race.