YAKIMA, Wash. – The Yakima River Canyon Marathon is set to take place this Saturday, March 29.
This year, the marathon is seeing its highest participation numbers since 2019, according to Frank Purdy, the race director.
The marathon, which began in 2001, covers a distance of 26.2 miles and has recently added a half marathon of 13.1 miles.
The event will primarily take place on State Route 821, running through the scenic Yakima River Canyon, starting near Ellensburg and finishing north of Selah.
Purdy expressed excitement over the return to pre-pandemic participation levels.
“We’re looking at about 350 total, 200 in the half marathon, and the balance being in the marathon,” he said. “What it means to us is that, well, we’re back. We took a hit during COVID, and so a lot of races kind of struggle. People change their habits, and we sort of had to change how we went about things. But now it looks like we’re back on the right track.”
State Route 821, also known as the Yakima River Canyon Highway, will be closed from 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Saturday. Purdy noted that there are ways for recreationists to obtain passes to access the area.
Jeff Hagen, a world-renowned ultra marathon runner, might not be running in this year’s event, but he’s getting his footing back after cancer treatments side-lined him.
Hagen shared his journey and passion for running, saying, “I started running just to stay in shape for other sports. But then I realized what running is, you know, kind of fell in love with it on its own.”
Hagen emphasized how running has been a healing process, comparing his experience with cancer treatment to running an ultramarathon. “It’s the preparation, you know, the treatment itself or the run itself, the aftermath, the side effects, all this stuff,” he said.
Lilli Adams, another participant, is preparing for her first full marathon after having run several half marathons. She discussed the preparation process, explaining, “I Googled a lot before getting into this… About 21 weeks. So I’ve been running for a good 21 weeks for this marathon and I hope I’m ready.”
The marathon events are scheduled to start at 8:00 a.m. for the full marathon and 9:30 a.m. for the half-marathon.
The marathon is expected to benefit from favorable weather, adding to the excitement for the large number of participants. For more information on road closures and event details, readers can visit this website.
