Sunday, May 25th marked the third annual Forest Park Trail Run hosted by the good folks of Pacific Coast Trail Runs. As not to disappoint the many visiting runners, walkers, and hikers from sunny California, Mother Nature unleashed a night of pre-race thunderstorms to turn the trails into a fine Oregon mud. Light rain came down upon runners as they lined up at the start line at the Lower Macleay trailhead (just beneath the Thurman Bridge) just before 9 a.m.
Over 300 runners braved the conditions to compete in four races ranging from a zippy 10k to a 50k with over 3,000 feet of climbing. All four courses (map below, enlarge for detail) included long sections on Forest Park’s signature Wildwood Trail, which runs for nearly 31 miles through the park. The 50k was largely and out-and-back course with an extremely hilly “lollipop” loop at the far end. Two well equipped aid stations (with extremely eager volunteers) at Firelane 1 and Saltzman Rd. provided participants with a bevy of snacks and drinks.
Fit Right employee Ruben Galbraith (photo below) took home a narrow win in the 50k to edge out accomplished Master’s runner William Emerson of REI in times of 3:52:08 and 3:52:57, respectively. Shawna Wilskey of Burlington, WA took home the women’s crown with a time of 4:40:06.
The top male and females finishers in the 10k race were Joe Remitz of Portland, OR (42:13) and Audrey Gibson of Boulder, CO (51:27). Out of towner Thomas Cason, of Brevard, NC won the 20k race (1:28:03), and local Maureen Kavanagh took the women’s race (1:35:25) as well as third overall! Kevin Denny of Lake Oswego won the men’s 30k race (2:32:48), and local Shay Ryan won the women’s race (2:35:57) and third in the overall standings.
Full results can be found here.
