Show Section Friday June 25 2004 ? ' ' S' ' 'J P'-t'- ' s ' rt‘ ‘‘j The Herald Journal ‘ i W ' ' ' - r" ' £: if" ' V A VS-- W"f A ': ' V' V ' ' C‘S ''i’ ' ' ” rf' S' ’ 'r '' ' 'i'rv'V-- ' - ’! ’’ ‘ViX ' v ' X ':'!'£ ) j:-- - v ' 'V'vf 'J (' " v ' V'yi VVr 'fv''Four ARDWAR6' children' of Kent and !sIMOrganizers' Bell and Hiiltouted as 'a ince for'evCTy onec CYtYS RANCHPARK KathinRofbf$n1ithfieldptlitev binal- ttiniicr tothevj aiid therecretiiti Jt seemed Jike'i NamlieiEdieQrimt SpericerfsSfrPtn teamed up with their spoukffenatic and 'set bprthe:'cdui-se- : soj great idea last Friday and three friends that some ruhners w6uld ha e V when a dozen competi- - one - LU— — - — u! — iorsshot off down the highway1 : sister-in-la- w - 'v- -'-- fromHaidwareRanchninningin ?i’'r4reatherthatwasJencouragingly : v'sunnyji'jKl clear- if a 1 ittfe hot: 3A‘Jw gy after most ' Saturday ' s‘’' “ ' :i (ait:' a 170- mile relay s race still seemed like a fine idea to those bystanders The participants were less sure “It was painful” said Grant Roper moments after his team- Jessica ' mate and Roper crossed the finish line to give Team World's Greatest Ath- finish in the inau- letes a Wasatch Back gural Relay “It was way harder than any of us thought would be” The race was the brainchild of runner Steve Hill a Salt Lake-are- a who loosely copied Oregon's monstrously popular Hood to Coast relay in which he competed several times Hill's son Dan and Tanner Bell a longtime friend of Dan's took the idea and ran with it so to speak selecting a course that wound along back roads on the eastern side of the Wasatch Range and passed lakes state parks and Olympic venues They launched the event this year drawing 22 teams of 2 runners each including one group from Cache Valley: The World's Greatest Athletes also known as Team Roper ' sister-in-la- ' for Team World's Greatest Ath- " - ' ! ' w ce 1 Ranch where support vehicles festooned with team names old ' running shoes and product logos'1 filled the parking lot Team Roper represented Cache Valley well Kara Roper Grant's wife and " up Our family is ' “far and away oiir fiercest com- ' petitor” according to Spence really competitive wife zoomed his and out of the gate in first Jessica Spence several others on the team are place and was the first woman to : reach Checkpoint One From there training for the Top of Utah Grant ran a strong second leg that Marathon in September but none had the team ahead of pace to had faced anything quite like the reach their goal of finishing within Wasatch Back The course which 24 hours and things looked bright started on a relatively benign downhill stretch of Highway 101 in Blacksmith Fork Canyon ' £ V 3L 1' V wound through Hyrum and Par-- it adise before climbing into the mountains and eventually ending in Park City Each runner was to tackle three legs of three to six miles each over varying elevation and terrain (mostly paved roads) around the clock “The novelty of the race attracts ed us" Spence said “There's not anything close to it When we heard about it it seemed like a natural thing to do” A natural thing for anyone accustomed to running three road races in 24 hours w ithout sleep “This definitely falls into the category of adventure” said Andy Epperson a triathlete and one of on Team the few World's Greatest Athletes Sky View) and the rest of us picked it ingupfor 4th-pla- — TVT : - - ' - : - - ' f- ' before the “You gotta be kidding me” - 1: race “She‘" “We wanfed a foute that clial- -' ! ' ' was the i lenged scrious'runncrs and had ' ' first to easier parts for pieople who'- weren’t so serious” Bell said not-- run dis: ' ' tance ing that the route wasn’t meant to be a shortcut from Logan to Park'-tivelcompeti- in i"-: City “It’s definitely not a straight ' highshpt but it’sa pretty shot ” ' From the start at Hardware’ V'T school ' tening to ' music and v vsun- at " bathing Park City’s V Town Lift Plaza while iawaiting:' the finish- ers sign--1 — -- — — — M' ' ’ - V ' letes As the teams spread out along ' the course — 1 four “elite” teams including cross country clubs from Weber State University and Brigham Young University started our hour? after the mam group M caught up around nightfall — close finishes seemed unlikely ® ut Emily Perry ran ' Past Canyon Reservoir in a 1‘g11 ram not ong before mid night she missed one of the multi' ple twists in the course Ten minutes later her groggy teammates in the suppqrt vehicle noticed that she was missing and tracked tier down but not before losing 20 minutes and a healthy-leaover their nearest competi- tors Sole Survivor and Butt Sweat and Tears The second half of the race duel became a w ith multiple lead changes between TW G A and “Green Light” the Ropers' nickname for Butt Sweat and Tears because each iunner on that team wore a g light “We must have traded places five or six times" Grant said afterwards “Those last six hours were way too intense" back-and-for- ? &Vyf sw-- ' vj-'V-r- Page! th green-glowin- non-Rope- rs See RELAY RACE on C2 v Top photo: Runhers comeout of :the starting gate : at Hardware Ranch at the' ' beginning of the inaugural Wasatch Back Relay a 170- mile race from Hardware to ' Park City v Above: Grant Roper hands off the “baton” 'actually a plastic bracelet — to team mate Natalie Hanks Far left: Chris Roper drives a support vehicle for Team World's Greatest Athletes as ' Grant runs alongside Bottom Kara Roper sets a fast pace down Highway 101-iBlacksmith Fork Canyon Text by Lance Frazier Photos by Brent Stevens ' n ' - v V ' ' A : |