Sisters runners and walkers fare well in relay

Walking and running teams with ties to the Sisters area held their own at last weekend's Hood to Coast and Portland to Coast relays.

Among walking teams, "Sisters Seeking Sea Level" averaged 13:30 per mile for the 127-mile course en route to 37th place among 142 women's teams. Their overall time was 28 hours, 34 minutes and 15 seconds.

"We had a whole lot of fun, and we finished an hour ahead of last year's time," said Captain Chris Davenport.

"Nice Girls Finish Last," captained by Sarina Henderson and made up of primarily first-year competitors, did not live up to its name, finishing ahead of at least 22 other teams in 31:14:15, which came out to 14:45 per mile.

The "Nice Girls" had some young team members, including sixth grader Savannah Spear, who really got into keeping track of "road kills" which is a term for counting the number of walkers you catch along the way.

"I loved chasing people and passing them so I could mark them as road kills when I was done," she said.

"The Metabolic Spaz Outs," organized by Metabolic Maintenance Products employees, finished 119th among 134 mixed teams in 31:48:15.

A total of 342 walking teams finished this year's race.

The Henderson family may have been unique among participants in the event in that all five members of the family were involved in the relay in one way or another. Jody drove the van for the walking team captained by his wife Sarina, while daughters Blake and Jaym also walked. Son Jared joined his high school teammates in the Portland to Coast High School Challenge.

"It was cool that we got to pass them along the way right when I was running my second leg," said Jared.

His team, "Luke and the Fartlekers," finished sixth among 27 high school co-ed teams in 16:34:29.

The other Outlaws team, "May the Horse Be With You," was just over an hour later in 17:41:49. Sisters was the only high school to field two complete teams. A total of 48 high school teams completed the relay this year. It was the ninth consecutive year Sisters High School fielded teams for the challenge.

Among local Hood to Coast teams, "The Band-Aid Brothers" crossed the finish of the 197-mile course first in 27:07:22, and "If Deschutes Fit" finished 15th among male masters teams in 29:16:16.

The Hood to Coast Relay included 1,034 running teams, including a number of international groups, making it the largest relay event in the United States. While about 8,000 of the runners come from Oregon and Washington, the remaining 4,000 included runners from every state in America, as well as runners from Ireland, Switzerland and other countries.

"The teamwork and camaraderie are what make the relay such a great thing to be a part of," said Lucas Glick. "Even though we are running at all hours on some pretty tough routes, we have a blast along the way."