Date: Sunday, March 1st, 2015
Events and price:
12k Run 8:00am
5K Walk/Run 8:20am
Kids Races 10:00am
***Registration for young adults ages 8-18 is only $18 for any 5k or 10k Energy Events race.
Location: Fort Vancouver National Park; Vancouver, WA **new for 2015!!!**
Number of runners: approximately 1000
Beneficiary: Fort Vancouver National Trust will receive a portion of the proceeds, and Energy Events will match every nonperishable food item you bring on race day and donate it to the Clark Country Food Bank.
Swag: Long sleeve shirt (the design on the charcoal grey looks awesome!), bottle opener medal shaped like Fort Vancouver for 12k finishers, snacks and drinks. Skora will provide the winners of each division with a pair of Skora running shoes (5k & 12k, male & female, open & masters)!
Course: **new for 2015!!!** There will still be a 5k, but due to the change of venue, there will be a 12k instead of the 15k. Check out the course maps and elevation charts here.
Past recaps: 2014 recap
Events and price:
12k Run 8:00am
5K Walk/Run 8:20am
Kids Races 10:00am
***Registration for young adults ages 8-18 is only $18 for any 5k or 10k Energy Events race.
Location: Fort Vancouver National Park; Vancouver, WA **new for 2015!!!**
Number of runners: approximately 1000
Beneficiary: Fort Vancouver National Trust will receive a portion of the proceeds, and Energy Events will match every nonperishable food item you bring on race day and donate it to the Clark Country Food Bank.
Swag: Long sleeve shirt (the design on the charcoal grey looks awesome!), bottle opener medal shaped like Fort Vancouver for 12k finishers, snacks and drinks. Skora will provide the winners of each division with a pair of Skora running shoes (5k & 12k, male & female, open & masters)!
Course: **new for 2015!!!** There will still be a 5k, but due to the change of venue, there will be a 12k instead of the 15k. Check out the course maps and elevation charts here.
Past recaps: 2014 recap
It started off as a chilly, slightly frosty morning in Vancouver, WA--but the sun was shining, which was definitely an improvement over last year's weather conditions at the Fort Vancouver Run. The 2014 event had a miserable mixture of rain, sleet, wind and freezing temperatures, but this year's event had some of the nicest weather that a runner could hope for on the first day of March.
This year's race is at a new venue: Fort Vancouver, the race's namesake! In prior years, the race was held at the nearby Fred Meyer/Grand Central parking lot, but it was an exciting change to actually have the race take place at the Fort! In addition to changing venues, the 15k race was shortened to a 12k, and they kept the 5k distance, although the routes were changed slightly. Since there is limited parking next to the Fort, and we weren't sure where exactly the starting line would be on the Fort's property, or which parking lots would fill up first. We were pleasantly surprised that the parking situation wasn't too bad, and we parked down the street from the start/finish line. There were some issues with the starting line layout--it went directly through the fitness expo area and past the porta potties, which created a bit of a traffic jam and a bit of shuffling around was needed.
The course itself was gorgeous, and totally showcased some lovely areas of Vancouver, definitely an improvement over the old course. Much of it was along the newly opened path right on the Columbia River! The course was full of energetic and cheerful volunteers, and had a nice flat stretch along the middle part of the race. My friend Kristina paced along side me, which made the miles pass fairly quickly, and helped me block out the intense pain in my ankle. What had started off as tweaking my ankle slightly on the Thursday prior to the race, became a slight tenderness after a 10k on Saturday, which progressed into the feeling like my ankle was hamburger meat mixed with broken glass and barbed wire about 2/3 of the way into the 12k. It was pretty painful, but at that point there wasn't much else to do except get across the finish line.
The swag from the race was really nice also. There were goodie bags were nice, there were plenty of snacks after the race, as well as Jamba Juice. The best swag was the bottle opener medal, shaped one of the towers of the Fort with a matching race-specific neck ribbon, and the really nice long sleeved tshirt, which was a nice charcoal heathered gray with a cool design, amazing fit, and really nice feel. Really really good quality swag!
Awards were scheduled to take place awhile after the event, so most of us decided not to stick around, and just head straight to the Rock Wood Fired Pizza for some warm food and some cold beer (registration included one free beer for runners/walkers who were 21+). Lots of runners showed up at the Rock, which was great.
I also want to thank all of the volunteers out there on that cold morning, but especially the volunteers at the bag check (awesome people who I'm lucky to call my friends!), because they were super speedy about getting people's things checked in and out--definitely appreciated on a cold morning :)
I really enjoyed the Fort Vancouver 12k, and loved some of the improvements from years prior, and look forward to seeing what's in store for 2016!
This year's race is at a new venue: Fort Vancouver, the race's namesake! In prior years, the race was held at the nearby Fred Meyer/Grand Central parking lot, but it was an exciting change to actually have the race take place at the Fort! In addition to changing venues, the 15k race was shortened to a 12k, and they kept the 5k distance, although the routes were changed slightly. Since there is limited parking next to the Fort, and we weren't sure where exactly the starting line would be on the Fort's property, or which parking lots would fill up first. We were pleasantly surprised that the parking situation wasn't too bad, and we parked down the street from the start/finish line. There were some issues with the starting line layout--it went directly through the fitness expo area and past the porta potties, which created a bit of a traffic jam and a bit of shuffling around was needed.
The course itself was gorgeous, and totally showcased some lovely areas of Vancouver, definitely an improvement over the old course. Much of it was along the newly opened path right on the Columbia River! The course was full of energetic and cheerful volunteers, and had a nice flat stretch along the middle part of the race. My friend Kristina paced along side me, which made the miles pass fairly quickly, and helped me block out the intense pain in my ankle. What had started off as tweaking my ankle slightly on the Thursday prior to the race, became a slight tenderness after a 10k on Saturday, which progressed into the feeling like my ankle was hamburger meat mixed with broken glass and barbed wire about 2/3 of the way into the 12k. It was pretty painful, but at that point there wasn't much else to do except get across the finish line.
The swag from the race was really nice also. There were goodie bags were nice, there were plenty of snacks after the race, as well as Jamba Juice. The best swag was the bottle opener medal, shaped one of the towers of the Fort with a matching race-specific neck ribbon, and the really nice long sleeved tshirt, which was a nice charcoal heathered gray with a cool design, amazing fit, and really nice feel. Really really good quality swag!
Awards were scheduled to take place awhile after the event, so most of us decided not to stick around, and just head straight to the Rock Wood Fired Pizza for some warm food and some cold beer (registration included one free beer for runners/walkers who were 21+). Lots of runners showed up at the Rock, which was great.
I also want to thank all of the volunteers out there on that cold morning, but especially the volunteers at the bag check (awesome people who I'm lucky to call my friends!), because they were super speedy about getting people's things checked in and out--definitely appreciated on a cold morning :)
I really enjoyed the Fort Vancouver 12k, and loved some of the improvements from years prior, and look forward to seeing what's in store for 2016!