Courtesy Photo The super masters winners of the Hood to Coast Relay, also known as "The Mother of All Relays" are pictured here, with Alpena native Kevin Konczak in the front center. Pictured, back row, from left, are Frank Zoldak, Roger Sayre, Brian Schmidt, Eric Abecassis, Glen Mays, Rick Granquist, and Todd Straka. In front, from left, are Tony Hauser, Garry Roseman, Mike Mallon, Kevin Konczak, Flavio De Simone, and Chris McDonald.

ALPENA — Alpena native Kevin Konczak just keeps winning, and this time, it was a team effort. Konczak, who lives in Colorado, traveled with a team of athletes to the Hood to Coast Relay, also known as “The Mother of All Relays,” and returned with a super masters division win for a fine performance, despite scorching heat.

The Hood to Coast Relay is “the most popular and largest running and walking relay race in the world, annually drawing participants from over 40 countries and all 50 states,” according to the event website. “Known as the Mother of All Relays, the event takes 8 to 12 member relay teams 196 miles or 128 miles (from Portland) from the iconic top of Mount Hood to the beaches of the Pacific Ocean.”

This year’s event took place on Aug. 22 to 23.

Konczak’s team, Boulder Road Runners, placed 24th overall with a time of 21:45:33, which equates to a 6:39 mile pace.

“We won the super masters division which is basically the 50 to 60 age group, and we were trying to break our record from two years ago,” Konczak said.

He noted that the extreme heat made it less likely they would be able to break that record, but they still won the super masters division. He said the temperature got up to 101 degrees during the race.

“You run from the top of Mount Hood down to the ocean,” he explained. “You have 12 people. You split six in one van and six and the other, then you have runner one go off on the top of Mount Hood. They run basically down to the bottom where they have an exchange area for all the teams. They hand out to the next runner, and you keep doing that … we make our way exchanging all day, all night, throughout the next day to the finish line.”

He added that his team was over an hour ahead of the next team in the super masters division, and that the Boulder Road Runners placed 24th out of 1,200 teams, so they were happy with their performance.

“We’re happy with it, considering the heat,” he said.

He said elite athletes of all ages compete in the relay each year.

“So a bunch of old guys run against the kids,” he said. “You know, we did pretty well.”

He said the whole experience is a bit crazy, but a lot of fun.

“You basically run as hard as you can and then you jump in the van, crammed in while you’re still sweating, you know, you don’t even get a chance to cool down,” he said. “It’s just jump in the van and go because your next ride is gonna be at the exchange. You have to fight 1,200 other cars to get to the exchange area.”

He added, “it’s crazy, but it was a good day. We had a lot of fun. We may go back next year just because you get to this age and if you wanna break your own record, I mean, you sort of have to do it when you have the youth.”

He explained that each leg of the race was 3-1/2 to 8 miles, and each runner ran multiple legs during the relay.

“I had the second longest amount of mileage for the whole race, so I ended up doing 22 miles,” Konczak said. “That’s staying awake, you know, all night and you’re crammed in a van and so it’s really difficult to run and get out and then ride to the next place and then about five hours later you’re running again, all as hard as you can, and then you do that another time with a headlamp in the light vest, and you’re hoping you don’t twist an ankle on a pothole or something in the road.”

Yes, he was running in the dark in the middle of night, and so were all the other competitors.

He said working together on a team and succeeding is a great feeling of accomplishment. He enjoys individual triathlons, but this was a fun and exciting change of pace.

Konczak said the Boulder Road Runners is “a local group that promotes running in the community and growth in the community.”

The group helps support local track meets and some of the money they raise goes to helping Olympians get to races like the Olympic trials and competitions.

“A lot of them don’t have a lot of money,” Konczak said. “They’re professional runners and they’re training the whole time. They’re not working so they need a means of generating some money.”

In addition to Konczak, team members included Frank Zoldak, Roger Sayre, Brian Schmidt, Eric Abecassis, Glen Mays, Rick Granquist, Todd Straka, Tony Hauser, Garry Roseman, Mike Mallon, Flavio De Simone, and Chris McDonald.

Konczak added that he enjoys competing and still winning, even as “an old guy.”

Reach News Community Editor Darby Hinkley at 989-358-5691 or dhinkley@TheAlpenaNews.com.