Carrying the Baton - Portland to Coast Race

I got home from the Portland to Coast race about 4 hours ago. It was one of the most intense 37 hours I’ve spent recently. Our team, the ChevroLegs had 11 members, all women. We had 2 vans that carried us to our various legs of the race. These 11 women weren’t all friends when we loaded the van in the wee hours of Friday morning, some of us were barely acquaintances at the start of the race, but now I believe we have a connection that will last a long time. Truly, this is an amazing group of women dedicated to this event, and now to each other. And most of us are already on the 2010 team! Can’t wait. Next time, though, I’m bringing bug repellent.

The Portland to Coast race is the world's largest walking relay. It is 127 miles made up of 24 legs. We had a slap bracelet we used as a baton that we'd exchange at the beginning of each leg. Being women, we'd take the bracelet off a few yards before the chute and dry off our sweat before slapping it onto the next walker. It made me laugh every time. Bet the guys didn't dry off their sweat before passing it onto their teammate and I'll bet that teammate didn't care. Women care about sweat.

So why would I want to get up at 3 in the morning, travel for a few hours to wait my turn to compete in a relay race that takes us from the beautiful city of Portland, Oregon to the dreamlike town of Seaside, Oregon? Why would I want to be awake for a multitude of hours tending to women I hardly knew the day before, competing in complete darkness along narrow roads, sleeping (there really wasn’t any sleep but we tried) on the floors of vans, and eating food provided by the local equestrian club of whatever town we were in at the time? (Um, I didn’t ask what the food was at that point, I just ate and it was delicious.)

Why did we do this? Well, one reason is to challenge ourselves. We not only competed against our own abilities, but we competed against other teams while becoming a connected, solid, formidable team. And we not only started out as acquaintances or less, but during the race, the ordeal, the lack of sleep and food, the multitude of bug bites, managing porta potties in complete darkness and the tenuous terrain, we became linked, we became a team and we became friends. And that, my blog friends, is why I do this.

I love connecting with people. I like knowing who they are, where they come from and what they love. I like encouraging them to meet challenges and I like to receive that same encouragement back. It is amazing being a part of a group like the ChevroLegs; a group of compassionate, fit, caring, focused women who want to become more than who they are right now even if it means giving up sleep and collecting a massive amount of bug bites, blisters and muscle pains from places they didn’t know they had muscles. . . .even if it means showering in facilities that we normally wouldn’t consider disrobing in, and blow drying our hair under hand driers in the public facilities . . . . even if it means walking desolate roads with only a head lamp, reflector vest, a can of mace and the baton that we need to get to our team mate so they can walk a desolate road with only a head lamp, reflector vest, a can of mace, absolutely no cell phone reception so they can deliver the baton. It is a challenge. You don’t want to drop the baton in a race, just like you don’t want to drop the baton in life.

Why do I put myself through daily workouts and spending weekend mornings training and then eventually competing in events like Portland to Coast? One is to develop friendships with team mates and competitors that go beyond the normal day in, day out relationships. Another is to develop that friendship within me – the one that shows me what I am made of and what I can accomplish when I put it on the line. But mainly I do it to remind myself that I am carrying the baton everyday of my life, and it does matter that I carry it well to the next person, and that, when it is my turn again, to receive the baton with enthusiasm, dedication and the commitment to my fellow humans to carry it to the best of my ability. And that is why I race.