Wednesday, June 17, 2009

The spirit of the Sawtooths

Biggest field, 300 teams, for the Sawtooth Relay


They ended the previous day with a bit of Stanley nightlife, then started Saturday with a 3 a.m. dip into the frigid Salmon River. By the time they arrived at Ketchum’s Atkinson Park for the finish of the Sawtooth Relay, the Smith Squad was nine hours and 46 minutes full of experiences to remember. Happy to be done are, from left, Julie McGregor, Pat McConnell, Jenna Schweizer, Kelly McGarry, Angie Eagle and Greg Brown.

Rain or shine, there's something about the team dynamics of the Sawtooth Relay that starts the summer on the right foot—or with a late-night plunge into the Salmon River.

After partying in the huge metropolis of Stanley, Idaho Friday night, that's exactly what the Smith Squad men did about 3 a.m. Saturday in preparation for the Sawtooth Relay's 4:15 a.m. start from Stanley Elementary School.

To help wash away their hangovers, the guys jumped into the river.

After that, nothing about the 18th annual Sawtooth Relay was very difficult. The six team members each took turns running two legs apiece along the 62-mile distance from Stanley to Ketchum's Atkinson Park. They just had a great time.

Their final time was nine hours and 46 minutes. Their goal was to start quickly, underachieve and drink, so they achieved most of those goals.

"The weather was actually much better than we thought it might be," said Julie McGregor, who joined Pat McConnell, Jenna Schweizer, Kelly McGarry, Angie Eagle and Greg Brown on Smith Squad. "We finished at 2 p.m. Our goal was to finish at 3 p.m. so we were pretty happy with that."

Waiting for them at the Atkinson Park finish were treats like Polish Sausage, strawberry shortcake and beer. It was pouring rain by the time the later teams finished, about 4 p.m., but few seemed to mind.

Race organizer Terry Hoebelheinrich of the Idaho Department of Water Resources Energy Division at Boise, said there was a record field of 300 teams plus three solo athletes, making up a total field of over 1,800 participants Saturday.

"It was rainy and all that, which wreaked havoc with some of our volunteers, but it was cool and people seemed to have a great time. There's something about a team event that brings out the best in everyone," Hoebelheinrich said.

Sawtooth Relay is a non-profit corporation benefiting two charities including the Polycystic Kidney Disease Foundation (www.pkdcure.org) and the Idaho Donor Network (www.yesidaho.com). Organizers invite people to register to be organ donors at the yesidaho.com Web site.

One of Saturday's participants, Dolores Macias, participated only four months after donating one of her kidneys to a stranger. Currently, over 350 Idahoans are waiting for a life-saving transplant, according to a Yes Idaho press release.




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