REFLECTIONS
RACE with a PURPOSE
I
A high school junior recounts his epic journey by BRETT HAENSEL
I WOKE UP AT 4 A.M. ON AUGUST 27 MORE EXCITED than nervous: Unlike my 11 teammates, this was not my first rodeo. This was my second year participating in the 198-mile Hood to Coast Relay Race in Portland, Ore., and despite the early wake-up, I was energized. I knew what lay ahead of me. For my entire team, a group of Ravenscroft juniors and seniors called Ravens in the Hood, the race was the culmination of an entire summer of training and fundraising. Countless miles had been run and countless letters written, and it was finally time for all of
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that hard work to pay off in a nearly 200-mile run from the top of Mt. Hood (11,000 miles above sea level) to the coast at Seaside, Ore. Anticipation aside, the most significant part of the Hood to Coast Relay, to me, was the fundraising. My own family has been affected by cancer, so I know that the $42,103 my team had already raised for the American Cancer Society with our run meant far more in the grand scheme of things than a group of high school kids going to Oregon and running 15 to 20 miles each.
courtesy Brett Haensel
RAVENS IN THE HOOD From left to right: Sidney Vinson, Bradley Conley, Clare Zaytoun, Caroline Christman (in black jacket), Bailey McNeil (in teal jacket), Pearce Sanders (behind Bailey), Johnny Isley (in front), Grace Schmalz, Ben Kasierski, Brett Haensel (in blue jacket), Anna Collawn, and Jaxson Stocks.
