Hood to Coast Relay turns into race for recovery
by
Director of St. Thomas libraries and avid runner Dan Gjelten organized a team to run Oregon's Hood to Coast relay in 2006, but a car wreck days before the race led to a year-long race for recovery that culminated in the completion of the race in 2007.
In a picture on the bulletin board behind Dan Gjelten’s desk, a man and woman stand in the Pacific surf, wearing race T-shirts and finisher’s medals for the Nike Hood to Coast Relay.
The couple is Gjelten and Lisa Burke, taken a year after their plans to participate in the 197-mile relay were scrapped by a head-on car crash, sending them home with morphine pumps instead of medals.
“This is where we wanted to be in 2006,” Gjelten said, pointing to the picture. “It just took us a year to get there.”
Continue reading "Hood to Coast Relay turns into race for recovery" »