A little over a year ago I was sent a preview copy of the Hood to Coast DVD, unfortunately it was a Blu-ray copy and I had no way to watch it. I finally got a Blu-ray player and Hi-definition television and this was one of the first movies that I wanted to see. I completely enjoyed the movie and the stories involved in the telling of this nearly 200 mile relay race held on the other coast. Every year over 12,000 runners on 1000 teams participate in this long running relay event. I have never been to Oregon or the west coast and the beauty of this area came out in the film (particularly as I enjoy my new television). I loved watching the comradery of the highlighted teams. I particularly enjoyed the enthusiasm of the older lady runner who had suffered a heart-attack during the previous years race and was dead for two minutes. She embodies the person who loves to run and race (and defy her doctor's warnings). Then there is the team of aging fast runners who are out for a good time and to prolong their running and racing. I felt attached to these two teams and the runners on them as they are like the runners I know and have run with. The other two highlighted teams tell the stories of a beginning (and undertrained) runners off to accomplish something they never though possible and a family who suffered the loss of a son, brother, husband at a young age and how they gather together with his friends to remember his spirit. I found this feature interesting as I know lots of runners are getting into the sport for similar reasons and it is interesting to get their perspective on why they do so.
I will probably never have the chance to do the Hood to Coast Relay, but I have done a 24 hour relay in college and the Lake Winnipesaukee Relay as well as the shorter Mill Cities Relay. I said, "Never again" to an all night relay after the college event, but I enjoy the racing and teammate aspect of the other two relays. Maybe, when my hip if fully healed, someone will convince me to finally do the "Reach the Beach" relay which I have so far avoided.
You can find out more about the Hood to Coast DVD here. You can also rent Hood To Coast
from Amazon. If you need some good inspiration, this might just be the movie to see.
2 comments:
I loved this film! I was lucky to run HTC 5 different times. This film does a great job of capturing the craziness, the agony and the absolute thrill of the experience.
Don't rule it out Jim - I think a SBS alumni team needs to be formed!
Ha, ha...well if the other side of the country wasn't so far away! Actually, I think Paul Murray has done the HTC and although I haven't seen Laura (Whitney) Bianco for a couple of years, she would always run the road relays for my running club!
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