Walk Relays

​When I turned 50 my friend recruited me for her relay team, The Vintage Whine Walkers. This is a group of older women who enjoy walking and all the challenges that come from living in a van with 8 other women during a relay event, fatigue, jumping in and out of a van to support the person walking etc..., bees, mosquitoes, heat, cold, finding and losing things, it is all part of the adventure.

When a relay comes up (this year we are doing 5 walk relays not the usual 2) our captain, Judy will ask who wants to join the team for that particular race. Sometimes she has to find new team mates which helps grow our list of walkers as some move to other teams or are unable to participate anymore.

​Our team prefers to do an 8 person team, we have a reliable comfortable older van which fits right into our group.  Although CLR did a Relay in Hells Canyon one year and we did it with 5 people. Don't ask how. We somehow managed. Unfortunately that relay did not continue after the first event.

​We do Portland to Coast, Cascade Lakes Relay from Silver Lake to Bend. This year we did an overnight Cape Meares Relay. Hood To Coast is expanding their races and moving towards one day relay events. We did HTC Pacific City and HTC WA. The two videos are from the HTC WA relay. The one on the right features my team captain. She is the reason I continue to do relays. 

​I am not sure why I enjoy doing walk relays. I'll be out walking along my leg on a narrow highway following the walker ahead of me with a walker gaining on my heels, it's hot, I am thirsty, hungry for real food, and tired. My team is waiting for me a couple of miles down the road, and I ask why am I doing this? 
Then when I am at home and it's dark and cold outside I see the email from Judy- I just signed us up for the CLR- are you in? And I respond-of course! How could I not do it again?

​I have two more relays this year. Cascade Lakes Relay and the Portland to Coast Relay. 
​Judy has us signed up for 3 next year and we keep searching for some new ones to add to our list. We've been eying the Golden Gate Bridge Relay. 



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