PPG’s link to Iditarod ‘ultra-marathon’

February 24, 2005 - Tanya Cady intends to put herself and PPG refinish paint to the test in the Iditarod Trail Invitational, a 350-mile “ultra-marathon” that starts Saturday on Alaska’s Iditarod National Historic Trail. She’ll be pulling a 7-pound sled stocked with 53 pounds of supplies needed to survive minus-30 degree nights: food, sleeping bag, water, small stove and utensils.

Cady’s sled is covered with yellow and red PPG refinish paints and PPG decals.

She nicknamed the sled “Red’s Racer” in honor of her father Lyman “Red” Cady, a retired PPG employee who had worked in glass plants in Henryetta, Okla.; Wichita Falls, Texas; Meadville, Pa.; Owens Sound, Ontario, Canada; and Guangdong, China.

“My dad loves PPG; it’s just part of who he is. So by honoring PPG, I also honor my dad,” said Cady, 50, who worked as a laborer at Wichita Falls for several years.

Contestants have 10 days to complete the race. Cady’s goal is to run more than 40 miles a day and finish the race in eight days. The marathon begins a week before the annual Iditarod dogsled race.

“I told her to stay warm and enjoy the race,” said Red Cady, 80, adding that he believes his daughter and her PPG refinish-coated sled “should do just fine.”