Organizers and volunteers prepare for the OR200 awards ceremony at Greenwaters Park.
By KATHY NICHOLS/for The Herald — The Oregon200 is indeed 200 miles of trail running, with a gain/loss of 25,000 feet. Beginning and ending in Greenwaters Park, Oakridge, the runners went as far as Tokatee (see map). With twelve aid/sleep stations throughout the route, support personnel were ready to assist runners throughout the three-day arduous ordeal.
Starting out with 45 runners on Friday, at six a.m., August 25th, 31 completed the race by 10:00 am Monday, August 29th.
About GoBeyondRacing
Kathy Nichols photo Jason and Renee Jannsen, organizers of the Oregon 200.
Renee and Todd Jannsen of GoBeyondRacing.com, are the event organizers extraordinaire. After experiencing the beauty of the Middle Fork Willamette Trail while doing trail work a few years ago, they realized they wanted to bring a trail running race to the area. Working with the City of Oakridge, first with Bryan Cutchen when he was City Administrator and continuing with current CA James Clevenger, the Janssens have again put on an event that is worthy of attracting world class ultra-distance runners.
Kathy Nichols photo L – R: 2nd place Monica Showers, 1st place Emily Keddie, and 3rd place Phyllis Stanley.
And the winners are:
in the women’s category, Emily Keddie had the winning time of 68:19:39. Monica Showers finished in second place with 75:57:34, and Phyllis Stanley secured third place with a time of 77:11:27.
In the men’s category, Benjamen Dullum crossed the finished line at 56:45:06. Ryan Nieto came in about two later with a time of 58:35:29 for second place, and Scott Martin, at a time of 59:43:28 finished third for the men.
Kathy Nichols photo L – R: 2nd place Ryan Nieto, and 1st place runner Benjamen Dullum. 3rd place winner, Scott Martin was not able to be present for the awards ceremony.
And yes folks, those times represent hours, minutes, and seconds!
Obviously, anyone who finished this grueling event was a winner. Each participant received a cast belt buckle emblazoned with the event logo: OR200. Those familiar with the high country to the east of Oakridge will recognize the mountainous terrain depicted in the route map.
Map photo courtesy of Kathy Nichols The map of the Oregon 200 foot race course. Starting and finishing at Greenwaters Park, the runners’ half-way point was near Lake Toketee.
While many in the community of Oakridge wondered about the effects the smoke would have on the race When asked, the organizers said it really wasn’t an issue as smoke came and went depending on location and elevation.
At the award ceremonies, where both Mayor Cutchen and CA Clevenger were in attendance, the Janssen’s thanked Oakridge for their work and cooperation in making this happen. Greenwaters Park was reserved for six days. The Community building housed equipment and the park for camping for the support teams as well as runners before and after the race.
George Custer lives in Oakridge with his wife Sayre. George is a former smokejumper from his hometown of Cave Junction, a former captain in the U.S. Marine Corps. and ran a construction company in Southern California. George assumed the volunteer duties as the Editor of the Highway 58 Herald in 2022. He loves riding his Harley-Davidson motorcycle, building all things wood, and playing drums on the weekends in his office.
