upcoming

Eureka Waterfront Run

What:

Sunday, May 20th is the scheduled date for the eighth annual Waterfront Run, a two and five-mile event that begins and ends at Eureka Natural Foods, the event underwriter.   Runners and walkers take off at 10 am and head north to Waterfront Drive where the two-milers turn around at the Wharfinger Building.  The five-milers continue on and turn around at the boat ramp by the Samoa Bridge.

The Waterfront Run attracts youth teams, walkers, recreational runners and serious athletes.  The 2-mile course record still stands at 11:28 when 16-year old Jordon Krupa shaved off nearly 47 seconds in 2010.  Last year, 21-year old Shawn Stephens-Whale of Canada, smashed the 5-mile course record by 32 seconds when he finished at 27:21!

May 4th is the early entry deadline and the community is encouraged to sign up early especially if they want a t-shirt.  Entry forms are available at Eureka Natural Foods, the JoggN Shoppe in Arcata and online at Six Rivers Running Club’s website www.6rrc.com.   Proceeds benefit a Youth Running Shoe Fund where 60-90 pairs of shoes are given away each February and March.  Locally there’s been a resurgence in running and its due, in part, to the Shoe Fund’s seven year history of motivating kids to get involved in running.

One fun aspect of the Waterfront Run are the youth teams in the 2-mile event.  Runners aged 4-18 years can form a team of five to compete against other teams for an award.  Similar to Ferndale’s Foggy Bottom Milk Run race director, Karen Brooks explains, “We want to keep these youth teams running so we scheduled the Waterfront Run two months later.  Plus, Foggy Bottoms is the beginning of the Track season and the Waterfront Run is the end of the season.”  May 2nd is the deadline for the youth teams to sign up and they need to coordinate their entry with the race director.

Sponsors are welcomed to partner with Eureka Natural Foods and the other businesses that help make the Waterfront Walk & Run possible:  Soloray, Nature’s Way, Knudsen, Coast Central Credit Union, Bien Padre, Nature’s Path, Six Rivers Running Club, NewsChannel Three, Cypress Grove, Eel River Organic Beef, Wild Planet and the Jogg’n Shoppe. 

The third Sunday in May, the Sunday after Mother’s Day, marks the eighth annual Waterfront Walk and Run; a great community event that promotes fitness as well as providing running shoes for low income young runners.  For more information contact Karen Brooks, Race Director, at 822-7736.

When/where: