‘Hoppy’ half-marathon launched

Sean Meissner, the long- time race director of the Peterson Ridge Rumble trail run, was in charge of a new race on Saturday, September 28 — and afterward called the Sisters Hop Fest Half-Marathon and 5k a success.

“It turned out to be a relatively small, but fun event,” he said. “People loved the course and the weather turned out to be pretty good after a bit of a scare about snow in the forecast.”

Jason Gulley, 39, of Bend must have agreed as he made it through the half-marathon at just over six-minute- mile pace to win in 1 hour 23 minutes and 42 seconds for the 13.1-mile course that started in the industrial park and headed north of town out Pine Street and as far as Stevens Canyon.

Dustin Mangus of Corvallis came through in second place (1:25:54) and Jason Severson finished third (1:35:06).

Lori Lacks of Bend finished first among women, in sixth place overall with a time of 1:49:05. Annie Winter of Sisters placed second (1:57:26) and Lisa Dewitt of Bend was third in 1:59:07.

A total of 31 runners completed the inaugural course, including Nili Magee, Lucie Pronold and Shannon Beutler of Sisters.

An additional 17 people took part in the 5-kilometer event, won by Justin Coates in a time of 22:13.

The race took place in conjunction with the 10th annual Sisters Fresh Hop Festival held at the Three Creeks Brewing property in the industrial park, making the post-race festivities especially enjoyable, according to Meissner.

“Everything about the day had a lot of great energy, and the brew fest afterwards was a lot of fun,” he said.

The event, in part, is a fundraiser for the Sisters High School swim team. Meissner is confident and committed to seeing the race attract more participants.

“I think we got off to a good start, so with good word of mouth before next year, I definitely see the race growing.”