NASA ASTRONAUT TO RUN COLORADO WILD WEST RELAY WHILE IN SPACE
Longtime Competitor Will Join Team from Orbit

ENGLEWOOD, CO, June 30, 2014 - NASA Astronaut Steve Swanson is officially registered with a 6-person ultra team to compete in the Wild West Relay which takes place August 1st and 2nd in Colorado. He will join the competition from the International Space Station where he is currently in orbit. The race is a 200-mile relay originating in Fort Collins and ending in Steamboat Springs. Swanson has completed the Wild West Relay Race twice before as a participant.

To participate, Swanson will be strapped onto a treadmill on the International Space Station where he will run his six relay legs for his team at his designated times. The team is hoping to be in communication with Swanson during the race to notify him when to start running, and for him to notify his team when the next runner should start when each of his legs is completed.

Swanson will compete on a six person ultra-team (each runner averages 33 miles) with the team 200 Miles, 20 Orbits and 90 Schillings. The name of the team represents the number of miles of the relay, the expected number of orbits that will be made during the course of the relay and the team's favorite beverage. The captain of the team is Bredt Eggleston of Fort Collins, a friend of Swanson's and previous participant in the relay. Other astronauts are expected to be part of the team, including Sunita "Suni" Williams, who participated in the Boston Marathon in 2007 by running her marathon on the Space Station.
Swanson is originally from Steamboat Springs and attended the University of Colorado, Boulder. He is currently two months into a six month mission on the International Space Station.

About the Race
August 1-2, the Wild West Relay will cover 200 miles from Fort Collins to Steamboat Springs. Runners compete on a 12-person or a 6-person ultra team through foothills, open spaces, and back roads, passing through three National Forests and crossing two mountain passes. The race finishes at the Steamboat Springs Ski Resort. More information available at www.rltrelays.com. 

Furthermore, RunnersOnTheGo.com Members receive a discount to the relay. Each runner who owns a card can receive $10 off their respective race cost.
See the following link:
http://runnersonthego.com/Home/Listing/cf3e288a-e0ec-4e1b-9a26-52ee22e74191?destinationKeyword=ft-collins-co

Roads Less Traveled Relays are staged by Timberline Events LLC, a Colorado owned company. The races benefit Volunteers with a Purpose, Inc. (www.VolunteersWithAPurpose.org; which benefits non-profits in the communities that races pass through - over $250,000 raised and distributed), and 1% For the Planet.