Very early Friday morning, August 1, 2008 hundreds of runners gathered outside the Budweiser Tour Center to begin the Wild West Relay. Twelve of those runners were running to raise money for the Matthews House. Over the next 31 hours, 29 minutes and 26 seconds, they ran through the 100 degree mid-day heat and the 40 degree mountain night before ending at Steamboat Springs High School around noon the next day.

In addition to training to run from 11 to 19 miles each, these runners committed to raising funds and awareness for the Matthews House, with a team goal to raise $6,000. Our team was amazing, not only arriving in Steamboat with enthusiasm to spare, but also far-exceeding the fundraising goal – raising over $7,700!

Congratulations to team Just Passin’ Thru:
Steve Griffin, Tiana Nelson, Missy Larson, Lindsey McEvoy, Jamie Thorson, Renee Oppel, Gail Doesken, Mike Maher, Linda Maher, Vanessa Aschmann, Daryle Dickens and Joyce Dickens.

“The Wild West Relay was an incredible experience in and of itself, but running it for a reason was by far the most wonderful part to me. Not only is The Matthews House such an important organization in our community but also the people on our team had a special dedication and awesome energy that made the race that much more fun. I’ll take away so much from the race – not only friendships and a feeling of accomplishment – but also tons of memories: sleeping for about two hours the whole race during which time the sprinklers came on and drenched our sleeping bags; running all alone in the middle of the night and looking up at a beautiful sky of stars; coming together as a team when things got tough; listening to the same CD for about 15 hours; running across the finish line as a team; and, of course, how good that breakfast burrito tasted at the end!”

~Tiana Nelson, Just Passin’ Thru runner #5