2nd-year team ready to run

A group of women will be decked out in Xena the Warrior Princess outfits this weekend in Utah.

No, this isn't Comic-Con Utah. The Zena Road Warriors will be competing in the 2007 Ragnar Relay Wasatch Back. The relay race from Logan to Park City will start Friday morning and continue until Saturday evening, lasting up to 24 hours.

The team changed the "X" in Xena, to a "Z" for its own little twist. So who came up with the idea anyway?

"I was told for the Hood to Coast relay (In Oregon) by my team captain that I needed a Xena costume to race," said Tracey Scadden, captain of the Zena Road Warriors. "My co-worker was Xena for Halloween, so I borrowed the costume and went to run as Xena."

Last year, Scadden introduced the idea, with mixed results. A lot of people wouldn't run for her team. She ended up with a bunch of "walkers," and Scadden's team didn't finish the race.

This year, things will be different, she says.

"I picked up a lot of marathon and half-marathon runners," said Scadden.

The Road Warriors might sound like a fun-loving bunch, but there is more to the group than the attention-capturing costumes.

One of the teammates, Cindee Stanley, lost her sight after a car accident in July 1998. At the time, she was training for the Boston Marathon. After the accident, she just sat around at her computer for three to four years, said Scadden. That is until Scadden was introduced to Stanley and took Stanley under her wing. Now they are great friends.

"She told me I was a mushroom," joked Stanley, referring to her days at the desktop. "I didn't go outside at all."

Stanley still recalls the day in 2002 when Scadden called her and said the pair was going to compete in a triathlon on a dual bike.

"I thought she was kidding," said Stanley.

They did race in the triathlon, and the two have been running and racing ever since.

At last year's Wasatch Back, Stanley used a seeing-eye dog. The idea didn't work so well, so Scadden ran both her and Stanley's legs of the race. This year, Scadden will help guide Stanley.

Stanley said that Scadden has brought light to her life.

"I'd be lost without her," said Stanley.

Last year, the Road Warriors won the award for best costumes. This year, they hope to take home the trophy for best-decorated van, the vehicle trailing the competitors and swoops them when they've completed their run.