Runners Ahead: 2024 Hood to Coast passes through town

No one celebrates the “Mother of all Relays” quite like Sandy.

The town transforms the high school into a celebratory block party, making for an iconic exchange during the annual Hood to Coast relay. As runners cruise into the school grounds, their teams roar, many sporting fun outfits and signs.

There is live music, helpful volunteers who keep everyone on track, and a vendor market: clothes for sale; booths from sponsors like County Financial, Shokz and Knockaround; free coffee courtesy Rise Brewing Co.; a stretch center via Providence Health.

The 2024 Hood to Coast Relay, the largest running/walking relay race in the world, was held Friday-Saturday, Aug. 23-24. Thousands of participants from more than 40 countries and all 50 states cruised through town in teams of 8-12 members for the 196-mile course.

The 42nd annual race — 33rd annual Portland to Coast Walk — had a few organizers wringing their hands the day before it all began. Up on Mount Hood there was thunder, lightning and driving rain just hours before the 4 a.m. Friday start at Timberline Lodge. But the conditions let up right as the relay began, with those early teams making their way through a foggy Government Camp with a light drizzle of rain.

The race is divvyed between 36 legs, with support vans leapfrogging to the next exchange, where runners “slap” a wrist baton onto their teammates. In between the participants do their best to wolf down snacks and catch some shut eye in those vans, which are often decorated with flags, window paint and decals.

Participating teams also put forward two volunteers, or one with an 8-hour shift, ensuring the race is able to handle all the runners and have well-manned exchange zones.

The finish line is in Seaside, with a celebratory leap into the ocean.

In total five legs pass through Sandy and Gresham:

Leg 6: 7.10 miles from Cherryville to Sandy High School, one of the most challenging stretches with gains in elevation and a route along Highway 26. This stretch includes a run through Downtown Sandy.

Leg 7: 5.25 miles from Sandy High to Southeast Proctor Road in Boring, a route that traverses rolling hills along farm/country roads, as well as some quiet neighborhood streets.

Leg 8: 6 miles from Proctor Road to Boring Middle School on Southeast Dee Street, more rolling hills and country roads as the runners bypass Highway 26.

Leg 9: 5.83 miles from Boring to Main City Park in Downtown Gresham, with a route that largely follows the Springwater Corridor Trail. The exchange at the park, though sleepy compared to the chaotic fun of Sandy High, is a popular place to grab some snacks or fill up on gas.

Leg 10: 6.15 miles, from Main City Park to Southeast 111th Avenue in Portland, a route completely on the Springwater, sending the participants out of East Multnomah County.

Hood to Coast continues to grow from its humble origins. The first run in 1982 had just eight teams of running friends with hand-drawn course maps, no porta-potties or permits, and a homemade celebratory spaghetti feed on the beach.