SEASIDE, Ore. — It was a Hood to Coast finish like none before it. Thousands of runners and walkers, for the first time ever, wrapped up the nearly 200-mile relay in the midst of a global pandemic.
"Everyone is happy," said Jason Dillenburg, who ran in the relay. "Nothing went wrong. Everything went really well. We made our times."
"I'm glad we finally got to do this," participant Kimberly Coombs added. "Last year, with it being canceled, I understand, but I'm glad we finally got to do it."
The exhilaration is hard to ignore. So was the free vaccine clinic just yards from the finish line. Race organizers teamed up with Albertson's Safeway to offer shots to anyone who wanted one. Schuyler Ellis, diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma earlier this year, was thrilled to receive his booster shot.
"I was actually really concerned," Ellis said. "I wanted to get my booster beforehand, before the race, to feel a little safer and I wasn't able to do that. To get it here, at the race, that's not what I was expecting to have done but it definitely helps me feel a lot safer."
While the vaccine clinic and masks gave some people some peace of mind, others believed the Hood to Coast Relay never should have happened in the first place.
"How is this even possible that these super spreader events are allowed to take place," asked one person in a post on Facebook.
"It should have been canceled," added another commenter. "Too many lives will be lost."
Dan Floyd, chief operating officer of Hood to Coast Relay, applauded the participants and volunteers who were COVID conscious by wearing masks at the start, exchanges and finish.
"If people can't follow our basic rules, whether it's COVID or unrelated to COVID, they won't be allowed back in the race," Floyd said.
The mere thought of that is disappointing to racers who look forward to Hood to Coast each and every year.
"We're ready to do it again next year," Dillenburg said.