A marathon beginning in Vernonia and ending in Banks will draw runners, race organizers and volunteers Sunday to Vernonia, Banks and the communities between on the Banks-Vernonia State Trail and beyond.
The marathon, which also features a half-marathon and a relay race, begins Sunday, April 14 at 8 a.m. at Camp Cedar Ridge just north of Vernonia at 8 a.m. The relay begins at the same time and place, while the half marathon begins in Stub State Park at 9 a.m.
From Camp Cedar Ridge, runners will go around Vernonia Lake (stocked in the last few days with 2,000 legal-sized trout), enter the Banks-Vernonia State Trail, follow the entirety of the 21-mile former rail line, passing through the Tophill, Buxton, and Manning communities before entering Banks, running down Main Street/Highway 47 before finishing at the new Banks High School track, completed last fall.
The marathon is a Boston Marathon qualifier.
The event is run by the nonprofit Oregon Road Runners Club, a group founded originally in Seaside in 1970, according to the ORRC website.
In an email to the Banks Post, Race Director Mark Barrett estimated that there would be 150 marathon runners, 350 half marathon runners, and 50 relay runners.
In a traffic control plan submitted to Washington County, the Oregon Road Runners Club said it planned to hire flaggers and use deputies at seven locations in Columbia and Washington County at various times throughout the day.
In Columbia County, the group planned to have Vernonia police at the start of the marathon, certified flaggers at State and Bridge Streets from 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. and McDonald Road where it intersects with Highway 47 south of Vernonia from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m.
At the Tophill Trailhead, the group planned to have a Washington County Sheriff’s Office deputy, and certified flaggers from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Where the Banks-Vernonia State Trail crosses the entrance to Stub Stewart State Park, flaggers are planned from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., at Bacona Road from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Pihl Road by the Manning Trailhead from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., and at the Main Street/Banks Road/Cedar Canyon Road intersection in Banks from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The Banks-Vernonia State Trail will remain open to other trail users during the event.
Event organizers said that most runners will park in Banks on school grounds, at Sunset Park, and use street parking and then shuttle to the race start in Vernonia or Stub Stewart State Park.
More information about the event can be found online.
This story has been updated with how many participants are expected to attend.
Chas Hundley is the editor of the Banks Post and sister news publications the Gales Creek Journal and the Salmonberry Magazine. He grew up in Gales Creek and has a cat.
