Portland to Coast

Many of you are unaware that I am an elite athlete.

AH - HA! HA! HA! HA! Hoo ha hee, hee! Hee, um . . . ha.

Ah well (wiping tears of laughter from my eyes), that was fun. For a second there I had you, right? I mean, you can picture me as maybe an average athlete, right? C'mon - we're all friends here.

Seriously, every year in August, for around 30 hours, I am an athlete. I am captain of the . . . wait for it . . . High Maintenance Chicks in the Portland to Coast Relay. We are one of 400 walking teams.

There is also a running portion of the relay - Hood to Coast - but for now we won't spend a lot of time on the runners. Those people are nuts. And so very funny! We are always entertained by the shenanigans of the running teams. When you've been awake more than 24 hours, things tend to be funnier than if you'd had a good night's sleep. Especially if the humor happens to be inappropriate (ask me about some of the van decorations).

This year's relay begins tomorrow and our start time is 0345. As in AM. As in we need to get up at 2 am. At that point, we'll begin our walk to Seaside, Oregon. It will take us a little under 30 hours to walk the 127 miles.

We have 10 members on the team, divided into 2 vans. Here are the Chicks from last year, at the finish line. My we were fast! We finished 5 hours ahead of schedule.

Here are the girls in my van. These girls are my chicks, my posse, the wind beneath my wings, uh . . . you get the idea. See the hot pink team shirts? Can you also see the rhinestone tiara on the front?

High Maintenance Chicks MUST have bling. Even if you're hot and sweaty and haven't had a shower after walking 13 miles.

So, my annual try at being an athlete starts tomorrow.

Go High Maintenance Chicks!