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This is Fred Ball for Zions Bank, speaking on business.
Since the 1980s, Steve Hill has dreamed of creating a relay race in Utah similar to Oregon's 195-mile Hood to Coast Relay. This year, with the help of his son, Dan, and friend, Tanner Bell, the three have organized the Wasatch Back Relay, a 170-mile relay race stretching from Hardware Ranch near Logan to Park City.
The Hood to Coast Relay usually gets 2,000 team applications and only accepts 1,000 teams. Teams from all over the world sign up for the Oregon race, and Tanner tells me he hopes the Wasatch Back Relay will eventually get that big and popular. Tanner says they have reached all their goals so far, and he is excited about the 25 teams participating in this year's race.
Every team is comprised of 12 runners who each run three legs of the 24-hour race that starts tomorrow. Each leg is between three to six miles long and varies in difficulty from easy to very hard. Tanner tells me this race has something for everyone. Because each leg of the race is different, novice and experienced runners alike will find this race challenging and fun. The runners will pass seven lakes, mountain towns and several former Olympic venue sites.
In order to organize the race, Steve, Dan and Tanner formed an events company called Back Road Events. The Wasatch Back Relay is the only project the company is working on currently, but Tanner hopes the company will incorporate other events in the future. The company has received many compliments from runners and sponsors who say this is the most well organized, first-year race event they've seen.
Steve, Dan, and Tanner are busy with race preparations and won't be able to run the Wasatch Back Relay this year, and neither will I for that matter. But like Tanner told me, there is no other event like this in Utah, and he hopes it will be around for a long time.
For Zions Bank, I'm Fred Ball. I'm speaking on business.
