Grueling 100-mile relay race planned for Sunday
June 25, 2008
By Ryan Piersol
About 15 athletes from Sammamish are scheduled to compete Sunday morning in one of the fastest-growing athletic events in Washington.
The Mountains to Sound Relay is a 3-year-old race that combines biking, running and rowing into a 100-mile jaunt. The event is part of the annual Greenway Days festival.
It will begin at Snoqualmie Pass at 8 a.m. and end at Golden Gardens Park in Seattle later that day.
In between that time, more than 1,000 people will have participated in a grueling - yet scenic - experience.
“It’s an incredible event,” said Chris Lewis with CityLeague Sports Inc., which hosts the race. “We have people come from all over the region. We get some from Oregon, we get Canadian teams. And, for the most part, these are recreational athletes in the elite category. They’re very fit people.”
Lewis said 160 teams have signed up already.
Team members typically run one of five legs of the race, before handing off to a teammate.
The first leg is a 23-mile mountain bike ride, followed by a 50-mile road bike ride, then a 12-mile canoe/kayak trip, a 13.5-mile marathon and a 6-mile sprint.
About 40 individuals have signed up to complete the entire 100 miles by themselves.
From Snoqualmie Pass, the mountain bikes go to Rattlesnake Lake.
From there, road bikes travel through North Bend and Fall City, just north of Sammamish, through Marymoor Park and finally to Redmond.
The rowing portion begins with a paddle through Sammamish Slough, before the marathon gets the hand-off in Kenmore.
The final six miles are from Gas Works Park in Seattle to Golden Gardens Park.
Lewis said the winners typically finish the race in about six hours.
“We have some serious competitors, but it’s a real people-oriented day and a real bonding process out there. For the most part, people just enjoy finishing,” he said. “We have a lot of participation from the military, the police department and the fire department.”
In previous years, about $12,500 from money raised from entry fees has gone for up-keep of the Mountains to Sound Greenway. Organizers hope to raise at least that much this year.
The race was inspired by the Ski to Sea Festival in Bellingham.
“We wanted to grow it slowly, but the first year, our 100-team limit filled quickly. So, we went to 150 last year and that was filled,” Lewis said. “We’re limited by the parking and accessibility of some of our transition areas. Where we start out, there’s all this room. But, as we get into Seattle, it really gets dense.
“Our estimate is that we’ll probably have a limit of 300 teams at some point, along with about 50 iron solos.”
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