I live in Oregon... in a small town outside Portland-metro area called Sandy. Little town... about 7,000 people.

Basically, if you want to go to Mt. Hood, you have two choices... you can either go up the Columbia River, through Hood River and up to the Mt., or you can run through Sandy.

Funny how Sandy is where I live now, and Hood River is where we want to live...

Anywho...

This weekend is the Hood to Coast Relay. What's that you ask? Well, it's sponsored by Nike (who is based here in the Portland area), and it's a bunch of crazy runners who start at Timberline Lodge and run all the way to the beach. If you look at the map, you see that they run RIGHT THROUGH SANDY. When I left this morning, I forgot that was today...   I am not talking about a couple hundred people here... we are talking like 10,000+ people... just passing through town. They get these crazy team names like Dozen Disco Divas or Hot Mother Truckers.

Some facts that I was not aware of was that this is the 27th year they have done this, they have 1,000 teams (of 12 people) plus all the support staff for each team... again... a lot of people! They have had to limit the number of teams due to the popularity and they have sold out on "opening day" for the last 17 years.

Now, I am not an athlete. However I am truly amazed at the dedication of these runners.... 197 miles in total.

Getting back to my point... I forgot that the relay was today. As cool as something like this really is... the invasion of our little town is a little scary and frustrating. As a driver, it's, let's say, my fault for being on the road. Some years we have heard terrible stories of "running rage" or maybe even a fight with runner and driver. For the last five or six years, I have made a point to be home today so that I don't have to deal.

But sadly I forgot. It took me 25 minutes to go 2 miles and let's just say that I am now, typing this post with a frosty beverage at my side. Note to self: Plan for Hood to Coast 2009. Have a great weekend runners!