VERMONTERS' DEFEND TITLE WITH ANOTHER C OURSE RECORD AT HOOD TO COAST!

Stowe runners Patty Foltz and Moira Durnin, Montpelier runner Dot Helling, and their Portland, Oregon, teammates won the women's supermasters division for the second year in a row at the Hood to Coast Relay on August 23-24, 2002, in a new course record, bettering the record set by the team last year by more than 20 minutes.

The team, known as "Hot Shoes Returns," consists of 12 women all over the age of 50. The team completed the 198.5 mile course in 24 hours 24 minutes and 14 seconds. The team finished 5th overall amongst the women's teams, which included teams of elite runners, and 100th place in a field of 1,000 running teams. Hot Shoes Returns averaged a pace of 7 minutes and 15 seconds per mile.

In 2001 the team completed the then only 195 mile course in 24 hours and 21 minutes, beating the previous supermasters record by over three hours. The 2002 course was lengthened by 3.5 miles resulting in an adjusted 2001 women's supermasters record time to beat of 24:45. The team beat this record time by 21 minutes. On the old course, the team's performance this year would have broken the 24 hour mark, the team's ultimate goal.

Hot Shoes Returns has an automatic entry into the 2003 relay. Foltz, Durnin and Helling are all committed to return with their sights already set on another record and breaking the 24 hour barrier. The Relay begins at Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood and finishes at the Seaside, Oregon, coastline. One thousand teams start on a staggered schedule and run through the night and next day over hilly and rugged terrain through designated checkpoints, assisted by their teammates from decorated vans. This was the 21st running of the Hood to Coast Relay, an Oregon tradition.