Rainier to Ruston Rail-Trail Relay and Ultra, after January 2009, National Trails Day, Tacoma, WA.




	R2R is almost six years old! How time flies when you're having fun! This popular event started on National Trails Day in 2003 with just two teams of 7 runners (1 alternate) and 6 walkers. There were 13 legs then, one leg for the walking members of each team. All were friends and family; most runners were past teammates from my many adventures in the famous 200-mile Hood to Coast Relay. We had leg maps for the two teams, but the other team was afraid of getting lost (beaten?!), so we agreed to run the course in pairs cooperatively. We just did it - no advertising, no permits, no registration, just a fun run/walk with friends. The second year we did it again, with three teams running competitively that time - my brother Jeff's, my daughter Theresa's, and mine. The following year we went public and the event became known as the Rainier to Ruston Rail-Trail Relay and Ultra. Last year 250 participants and nearly 100 volunteers celebrated National Trails Day in the R2R. This year we hope to attract many more walkers as well as runners. To that end we have enlisted Professor Amy Young and her two communications classes at Pacific Lutheran University to improve our public relations program. They will produce posters, a radio ad on KPLU, and an analysis of marketing effectiveness. Another change will help the formation of older teams. Last year I was on the only running relay team of Super Masters, 60+ years old. This year team members must only average 60+, so you can have a 40-year old on your team if you also have an 80-year old! Another change to help team formation is an online database on the R2R website of walkers and runners who want to join a team. This competitor pool will allow singles to contact others to form a team or team captains to pick up a needed teammate. 2008 will also be the first year of the Foothills Trail Race Series, the R2R High School Challenge (the fastest high school running team will win $500 for their school), and our newest division, Collegiate (all members enrolled in the same community college, college, or university), who will run for their alma maters in The Battle on the Mountain. We also hope you can look forward to a several route changes on the R2R: staying on the old railroad bed 1/2 mile farther toward Carbonado, a possible paved link from the Meeker trail head north across the daffodil fields to the levee leading to the Puyallup RiverWalk under the Main Street bridge, an extension of the course on the sandy trail along N. Levee Road through Fife all the way to the Puyallup River bridge or even the Lincoln Bridge to Tacoma, and the use of the brand new "D" Street railroad overpass to Dock Street on the Thea Foss Waterway which involves moving the exchange from the Tacoma Art Museum to the Museum of Glass. Many of these changes are not final yet, so cross your fingers. The maps will only be updated when a route change has been finalized. Race Director, Markus Dennis, and I guarantee that the 2008 Rainier to Ruston Rail-Trail Relay and Ultra will again be "an adventure in your own backyard!" See you on National Trails Day! John S. Selby Founder and Assistant Race Director JohnandDottieSelby@att.net See Founders Corner : 2007 See Founders Corner : 2005