John Arango, director of earned media at The Harbinger Group, definitely has an impressive variety of skills as he participated in the Hood to Coast Relay this past summer, the largest relay race in the world!
This race, also known as “The Mother of All Relays” consists of each team running nearly 200 miles from Mt. Hood – the highest point in Oregon – through downtown Portland and finishing at the beach in the town of Seaside.
Thousands of runners ran all day and night, cheering on teammates and competitors while taking in the beautiful sites of the Pacific Northwest, including mountains, rivers, Oregon fir trees, and more.
After the race, John was proud of everyone who finished, feeling a sense of connectedness to all the other runners. There were a multitude of reasons everyone was competing: Many were recreational runners out there for fun, some were competitive aiming for a specific time, and others wanted to check an item off of their bucket list. Regardless of skill level, it was a challenging experience for everyone, and they all finished the race together.
John’s biggest challenge throughout the race was food intake, as it was difficult for him to gauge how much and what to eat when running several times over a day and a half. “I felt weak and wobbly during my last leg but pushed through by relaxing and taking in the beautiful surroundings. Another trick I used was to count to 300, then repeat. It was a nice mental distraction that helped me stay focused,” he said.
Bonding was definitely a part of the experience while John was in the van with his teammates as they drove from leg to leg and tried to sleep a bit. Sharing a tight space for a long time and having friendly and entertaining company was his favorite memory throughout the experience.
John and his team finished this grueling, mentally-demanding and physically-challenging in just under 28 hours. The Harbinger Group is proud of John and celebrates his accomplishments both inside and outside of the office!
