Race walk team masters Willamette Valley Relay

At the finish line, from left to right: Michele Sims, Kim Addison, Mary Smith, Sue Tank, Grace Walsh, Nadean Murray, Marcia Plows, Judy Heller (founder of Wonders of Walking), Gayle Baker, Barb Haynes, Tonye Phillips, and Carol Moorehead. photo provided The Bookin' Babes, an all-woman race-walking team from Sisters, completed the inaugural Willamette Valley Relay (WVR) July 16-17.

A 143-mile relay for walkers only, the event started at Champoeg State Park and followed mainly backroads to the finish at Alton Baker Park in Eugene. The Wonders of Walking (WOW), an organization developed by walkers to spearhead a series of events specifically for walkers, staged the relay.

The WVR was the first of those events.

Beneficiaries of this year's relay included Ronald McDonald House Charities of Oregon and Southwest Washington, Legacy Comprehensive Stroke Program, and the Oregon Stroke Center based at OHSU.

Fifty-six teams started the relay; 54 finished. The Bookin' Babes, who competed in the Portland-to-Coast relay walk the three previous years, finished seventh overall, and second out of nine women's masters teams. Members of The Bookin' Babes include Sue Tank (team captain), Carol Moorehead, Kim Addison, Nadean Murray, Marcia Plows, Grace Walsh, Mary Smith, Michele Sims, Gayle Baker, Tonye Phillips Judy Heller and Barbara Haynes.

The next WOW event will be the first annual Sisters Stride Into Autumn, which will include five-kilometer and 10-kilometer timed events and a l2K trail walk (untimed), on Sunday September 26.

That event will be sponsored by Sisters Athletic Club.