HAYDEN - Competitors raced up hills in the 90-degree heat, navigated through thick brush on sometimes hard to distinguish "trails" in Hayden Canyon, and encouraged teammates.

Saturday was the first Jumpin' Beans Adventure Relay Race, and about 100 runners showed up to participate, raising money for a local mobile food bank that serves senior citizens.

Jason Ball, race director, said teams of up to 6 people ran different legs of the trail marathon. Out on the course runners followed horse and game trails, dirt roads, and brightly colored ribbons tied to tree branches when a trail hadn't been cut.

Gina McCloskey, 24, a current Las Vegas resident but a North Idaho native, was up competing with family and friends as part of a team they'd dubbed "Daddy Mac and the French Fries," which was written on the team's matching T-shirts.

"We were kind of trying to go with the food theme," because of the food bank, she said.

The Jumpin' Beans Mobile Food Bank was started this year and delivers food to people who can't reach a food bank, Ball said.

"We just kind of signed up without knowing what we were getting into," she said. "Now I know we have to go through water, which I think is pretty crazy. It's going to be an adventure, and we're going to get some good stories out of it."

Megan Motley, 26, of Coeur d'Alene, competed with a group of friends from her recreational fitness club, CDA Fit.

"We jumped on board because we like new and different types of workouts," she said. "We like to do a lot of trail runs and hikes. I like the idea of the relay - it's different."

Before the race, she said she planned to do both a 10-kilometer and 1-mile leg, and possibly a third leg.

"I hope it continues, because we will be back for sure next year," Motley said.

Anna Saltzman, 18, who was part of a team from Innercept academy (a residential treatment program in Coeur d'Alene), said she's trying to lose weight and get in better shape.

"I feel like (the race) will energize me and get my endorphins going and make me happy," she said. "I am very excited to run through water and stuff."

Some of the runners returned with muddy legs and shoes. Some had a few scratches from cutting through brush. A least a couple people got briefly lost during a 10k leg.

The marathon relay is broken into 10k, 5k, 2-mile, mile, half- and quarter-mile legs, and all the distances repeat twice.

"Everybody runs twice and they can pick any distance they want," Ball said.

The hand-offs are made at a central hub. All the routes run through a 1-square-mile area in Hayden Canyon. The hub was about a half mile north of the Lancaster Road and Government Way intersection. Competitors drove about 200 yards down a dusty road on the east side of Government Way to reach the hub.

Getting the adventure race set up for runners wasn't easy.

"I sent one person to do ribbons one night and a porcupine chased her," Ball said. "In certain areas where we cut trail, just a month later it was totally re-grown, from knee high to over head high."

Many of the ribbons that did get tied in the proper place were sometime later munched on by animals, he said.

"The trail maintenance has been way beyond what we imagined," he said.