News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Mandy Wilson (left) of Lake Oswego and eventual winner Elizabeth Broadbent of Eugene.
Wind and rain couldn't chill the spirits of some 700 women who hit the trails and streets of Sisters in the Happy Girls Trail Half-Marathon and 5K Run held last Saturday.
Elizabeth Broadbent of Eugene took top honors in the half-marathon (13.1 miles) with a time of 1:35:12. Bryn Singleton was Sisters' top finisher in sixth place at 1:40:19.7. The half-marathon started at the top of the Peterson Ridge Trail and ended on the FivePine campus.
The 5K wended through the streets of Sisters, starting and ending at FivePine. Statia Smith of Bend placed first in 20:09. Khiva Beckwith of Sisters cracked the top 10 with a time of 24:43.
The event drew a full registration of 500 runners for the half-marathon and some 200 for the 5K. The event, staged by Lay It Out Events, served as a fundraiser for Sisters Park & Recreation District.
An off-season event that brought 700-plus people to Sisters provided an opportunity for Sisters to show off a little, and 45 businesses stayed open late on Friday night to offer runners a taste of the Sisters downtown shopping experience.
Business owners and passers-by noted that town was unusually lively well after dark.
Reports of commercial success were mixed, according to Erin Borla, executive director of the Sisters Area Chamber of Commerce.
"It depends on what your metrics are for success," Borla said. "There were definitely people in town after 5 p.m., and they were shopping."
One man reported on Facebook that he'd completed his Christmas shopping in one night.
It wasn't just visitors. Borla reported that some locals decided to stick around instead of heading into Bend for the First Friday downtown stroll.
"It was nice seeing the local folks out supporting the businesses," she said.
In the end, of course, the event was about the running. The women who participated seemed unfazed by intermittent wind-lashed rain, although the wait for the 9 a.m. start of the trail run was chilling.
One runner was spotted with shoelaces that provided a motivating motto for the challenges of the event. They read: "Suck it up, buttercup."
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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