Brooklyn Track Club x Hood to Coast

In August 2018 small group of Brooklyn Track Club runners flew to Portland, Oregon to take part in Hood To Cost, a 199 mile relay from Mount Hood to the beach town of Seaside.

The following is an article published on Citius Mag by RJ McNichols, a Sports Documentary Producer based in LA, who followed the teams HTC journey.

​Full Moon, Full Send:
​Brooklyn Track Club Kills from Hood To Coast

From NYC to PDX. They were not here to stand in two-hour long lines for donuts or take selfies in front very pretty waterfalls along the Gorge. They were here simply to run, run, run and kill, kill, kill from Hood to Coast. Take no prisoners. …And like a true “Lost Boy”, jump off the bridge and fly.
The Brooklyn Track Club raced the Hood To Coast Relay last weekend. 199 miles of beautiful and hilly Oregon terrain. Chris Chavez and coach Steve Finley invited me along to ride shotgun, shoot some photos and be a part of the fun.
I lived on Mount Hood for three summers from 2014 to 2016 in three separate houses that are within the first half mile of the 2nd exchange. Many days, I got in my morning runs on the trails or do the crazy and run up to Timberline Lodge and back down. It is about 2,000 feet vert up and down over six miles each way. Oregon feels like another home to me and to see it with a different lens and with some friends was a treat.
A little over a year ago, I ran a mellow six to eight mile run with Brooklyn Track Club during a trip to New York while I shooting an interview for Year of the Bison. I wished the club existed in Los Angeles or something like it. I don’t know of too many running clubs like them in the U.S.  They love running more than anyone and it definitely shows.
Through the day and night, I bounced around from Van 1 and 2 with Finley, who serves as the head coach of the team and our self-appointed  “Digital Team.” Steve’s dry-witted sense of humor and his comedic responses kept even the most tense moments loose. Steve is certainly a leader who represents the spirit of the Brooklyn Track Club – serious runners who aren’t afraid to get a little untamed. Plus, just like me, Steve is from Illinois and so you know he’s “the salt of the earth” guy.
Below is a bit of photo journal and a reflection of the trip from a perspective of riding shotgun in each vans with a series of the photos that best represent the story of this weekend.
To enhance your reading experience, please read the following as Andrea Bocelli’s Con Te Partiro plays on repeat.

​Mount Hood. Isn’t she glorious?! I have done this drive more than a hundred times and it never gets old. I still get chills looking at the peak.

Read More