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A WVR 2007 Recap from Sore to the Corps:
Louis Landre, a racewalker for three years, has participated in many events like the Willamette Valley Relay. His enthusiasm was infectious when he talked to prospective teammates for this year's relay, making it sound like such fun that nearly half of the participants were new to the event.
Last year, "Dog Gone Fast" walked to a second-place finish. This year, Landre wanted not just a competitive team to cross the finish line; he wanted to field a team of recreational walkers, people who just wanted to enjoy walking along country roads and have a fun-filled, personally rewarding experience. "Sore to the Corps" was born and joined "Dog Gone Fast" on the relay registration.
"Dog Gone Fast" maintained its strategy from past years: a lean, mean, eight-person team to blaze the way, hopefully into first place in their category. "Sore to the Corps," with 12 team members, could challenge themselves yet share the burden of miles walked.
"During the planning meetings, "Sore to the Corps" members were ready to enjoy the overall experience without the craziness of competition," said Patti Williams, team co-captain and a relay veteran. "I told them that the adrenaline rush might change your mind when you get to the actual race."
"Sore to the Corps" started its first race leg at 7:30am July 20 and "Dog Gone Fast" left the starting line at 10:30am. "We planned to average about 11 minutes per mile," Landre said "With "Sore to the Corps" projecting an average of 15 or 16 minutes per mile, we expected to pass our sister team sometime around 5:00am on Saturday."
Apparently, "Sore to the Corps" wasn't consulted. By the time the third team member began her walk, the talk had turned. "Where's Louis? Has anybody heard? Are they gaining on us?"
"Everyone knew "Dog Gone Fast" would beat our time," said co-captain Rick Benoit, "But before long, our team's goal was not just to walk our best; it was to prevent Louis' team from passing us up."
The team looking only for personal challenge was on fire. Averaging less than a 13 minute mile, "Sore to the Corps" rallied behind a new battle cry, "Beat Louis! Beat Louis!"
"We didn't think we were walking fast, but our teammates had to run to keep up with us when giving us water during the walk," said Melissa Rinehart. As the sun went down and the race marched into night, "Dog Gone Fast" updates were offered with bottles of water. By 6:00am, Louis hadn't passed the "Sore to the Corps" racer, and "Sore to the Corps" began to think maybe, just maybe, they really could beat Louis.
The last "Sore to the Corps" walker in the race felt the pressure...could she hold off Louis' team? Word came as she started off that "Dog Gone Fast" was still a couple miles behind. With nearly 5 miles to walk, they could still overtake a footsore first-time walker "Dog Gone Fast!" One foot in front of the other...water from a teammate walking with her...2 miles left and still no Louis.
The finish line loomed, where both teams waited to cheer on the final steps. "Sore to the Corps" crossed the finish line as a team; Louis and the "Dog Gone Fast" members were there to congratulate them as they waited for their last racer to finish. Less than eight minutes later, "Dog Gone Fast" crossed the finish line.
When all the teams had crossed the finish line, the news was out: "Sore to the Corps" placed first in their category, walking 131 miles in 28 hours and 17 minutes. "Dog Gone Fast" placed second place in their category with a race time of 25 hours and 25 minutes - beating last year's time by 4.5 hours.
Each member of "Sore to the Corps" extends their heartiest congratulations to "Dog Gone Fast" for walking an excellent race.
It was all Louis' fault that we had so much fun walking, encouraging and suporting each other on this trek through the Willamette Valley. Thank you for recruiting us, Louis, we loved it. But..."We Beat Louis!"
--Diana Fredlund
Louis Landre Speaks:
"This WVR experience was really special for me, because you guys took on the challenge and then rose to the occasion to exceed expectations. That made me feel proud and honored to have helped put the teams together.
Everyone seemed to have had a great time. The camraderie, the hard work, the fun of being competitive, and the inspiration resulting from giving one's all truly came together during this event.
How could I not be inspired by seeing Diana Fredlund's smiling face cross the finish line? Or when Tasha Nolin was zooming right along in the middle of the night as she walked through Lebanon? Or when Jon Gornick broke a 10 minute mile pace? Or when Mindy Simmons kept improving thoughout day and night? Or when Tracie Williams set a personal best? Or how Jim Sherman helped us beat last year's time by over 4.5 hours?
What a fun way 'to be beat...' As Arnold would say...'We'll be back...'
Just don't look over your shoulder... The Dawgs are after you..."
--Louis Landre "Dog Gone Fast" Captain |
