Runners giddy-up at Pole Creek Ranch

The Pole Creek Ranch property has a history of running cattle, elk, llamas, and even a camel, but for the first time Saturday, August 20 it was 120 people of all ages that had run of the place, at the inaugural Giddy-Up Ranch Run sponsored by Run Sisters Run.

The Cole family, owners of the ranch, are moving toward allowing a limited number of events on the property in the future and opened the place up for race director Kelly Bither as a way to foster community connections.

Bither said, “The Pole Creek Ranch folks were so welcoming to let us be out on the ranch. It was a great, safe, beautiful venue to stage a run.”

The Giddy-Up featured a short children’s run before the five-miler and five-kilometer racers toed the line. Little ones as young as two made a circuit out around the finish line area to enthusiastic cheers from the older runners.

“It was great to have a lot of families take part in the race,” said Bither.

The five-mile and five-kilometer courses looped through the spacious ranch land on the dirt and gravel roadways that criss-cross the property.

Sisters runners and walkers made up just over half of the field of 90 finishers, with a total of 47 taking part in the 5K.

Wyatt Montgomery, a senior at La Pine High School, won the race in 17:39, while Ellie Coquhoun, a sophomore at Caldera High School in Bend, won the female division, placing sixth overall in 22:50.3.

Top finishers from Sisters included Danny Harris, who took third place in 20:56.

Heather Yeoman was the first local female to finish, placing 14th in 26:06.

Annelise Jones (14) and Iain Bennette (12) both cracked the top 20 to finish among the top youngsters in the race.

Claudia Williams of Sisters, 74, who took up running in her 60s, held her own in 76th place as the eldest finisher in the 5K (46:09), while Charlie Janov, age four of Sisters, was the youngest finisher.

A total of 23 runners took on the five-mile course where Samantha Winter, 32, led from start to finish, crossing the line in 37:38. The top four finishers in the race were women — including 65-year-old Elizabeth Carey, who finished a very impressive second in 40:10.

Jordan Walker, 29, of Sisters took the top spot among men, in 41:53, and Denise Hicks was the first local woman to complete the five-miler, in a time of 53:16.

Following the race, participants were treated to cold drinks and “boot-stomping” tunes by the Dry Canyon Stampede band in the corral. Concessions were also available for purchase.

Bither thanked members of the Sisters High School cross-country team for volunteering as course monitors and finish-line helpers by donating $500 of the race proceeds to the team.

Bither’s previous two events in Sisters, The Ugly Sweater Run in December and the Lucky Leprechaun Run in March, benefitted Circle of Friends and the SHS tennis teams respectively. The Ugly Sweater Run is scheduled for December 3, and will once again support Circle of Friends, according to Bither.

Complete results can be found on the Eclectic Edge Racing website and information about Run Sisters Run, including upcoming events, can be found at https://www.runsistersrun.com.