Outlaws run from Portland to Coast

The 2006 Outlaw cross country team culminated the first week of official practice with a trek from Portland to Seaside as part of the Portland-to-Coast High School Challenge.

The Outlaws fielded two co-ed teams, "The Gelandelaufers" (that's "cross-country run" in German) and "Do You Own a Kayak?"

The event has been a team tradition since 1997.

"This is absolutely one of the best things we do as a team to help kids get to know one another and work together," said coach Charlie Kanzig.

Portland-to-Coast is held in conjunction with Hood-to-Coast, which celebrated its 25th anniversary this year as the largest relay race in America.

The leg from Portland designed for runners 14 to 18 years old typically attracts cross country teams preparing for the fall season. Each runner covers two relay legs, which average about five miles each. Teams started at 6 p.m. under the Hawthorne Bridge and ran through the night and morning to arrive in Seaside.

"It's so cool to be out running in the middle of the night through the coast range," said Luke Glick.

Every event produces its own stories to be handed down over the years according to Kanzig, but this year may have taken the cake in that the two teams actually finished at the exact same time.

"I try to make the teams even, but over 126 miles a lot can happen," said Kanzig. "We had been within about 12 minutes of each other most of the way, but going into the last leg The Gelandelaufers had pulled within three minutes of the Kayak team and senior Cory Bigelow was determined to catch Andrew Legg, which he did right at the end."

Both teams were timed in at 16 hours, 59 minutes and 4 seconds which put them in 20th place among 49 teams and 12th among 33 coed teams.

The top coed team from Hillsboro finished in 14:42:29.

The Gelandelaufers team was composed of Bryttni Baldesarri, Courtney Johnson, Emi Conrads, Hannah Boles, Chelsea Addison, Erin Kanzig, Bryan Hicks, Benton Urquhart, Jeff O'Brien, Mike Calavan, Justin Lefor and Cory Bigelow.

Do You Own a Kayak? consisted of Kyra Weber, Lucas Glick, Jena Rickards, Sydney Randall, Jared Henderson, MacKenzie Williams, Stefan Redfield, Kyle Rickards, Parker Bennett, Zander Albertson and Andrew Legg.

Kanzig was assisted by drivers Jody Henderson, Kirk Albertson and Sean Meissner. Micah Hillis and Byron Womack, both Outlaws alums, served as escorts for the girls during night runs.

Meissner, a local ultra-marathoner, joined in as an escort as well, covering a total of 26 miles during the night.

"It's a crazy time of year to do this with school starting so soon afterwards, but it's definitely worth it," said Kanzig.