The Vernonia Marathon is back, bringing runners, supporters, and race officials into Banks Sunday.
The marathon, which also features a half-marathon and a relay race, begins in Vernonia and ends in Banks passing through the communities along the Banks-Vernonia State Trail along the way.
The marathon, which also features a half-marathon and a relay race, begins Sunday, April 13 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 Stewart State Park at 9 a.m.
From Camp Cedar Ridge, runners will go around Vernonia Lake, enter the Banks-Vernonia State Trail, follow the entirety of the 21-mile former rail line, pass through the Tophill, Buxton, and Manning communities before entering Banks, run down Main Street/Highway 47, and finish at the Banks High School track.
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 2024, 455 people completed the marathon, half marathon, and various relays that make up the event, according to the Oregon Road Runners Club.
While the event draws runners from around the country, Banks was represented by four runners in the half-marathon in 2024, according to results data published by the Road Runners Club.
Four people with Banks listed as their place of residence were half-marathon finishers.
Kim Sahnow finished with a time of1:59:04, Shawn Ratzi finished with 2:58:43, Jaime King with 2:15:18, and Polly Zechmann with 3:02:18.
In a traffic control plan submitted to Washington County, the Oregon Road Runners Club said it planned to hire flaggers and use police officers from two law enforcement agencies at eight locations in Columbia and Washington County at various times throughout the day.
In Columbia County, the group planned to have Vernonia police and flaggers at the start of the marathon, certified flaggers at State and Bridge Streets, and at McDonald Road. In Washington County, flaggers and Washington County Sheriff's Office deputies will staff the Tophill Trailhead area where the Banks-Vernonia State Trail crosses Highway 47.
At the trail's crossing near Stub Stewart State Park, Bacona Road, Pihl Road, and the Banks Trailhead, flaggers will be on-site.
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.
