Siuslaw Dunes 50K and 25K runs Saturday


Well-behaved dogs are welcome to accompany owners in the Siuslaw Dunes 50K. (Daybreak Racing photo)

How can you not like a running event that supports Siuslaw High School and is dog-friendly?

The Siuslaw Dunes 50K and 25K is 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, March 7, starting and finishing at Honeyman State Park.

The event benefits the Vikings cross country and track-and-field teams.

"I think it's just a really cool story," Siuslaw coach and athletic director Chris Johnson said. "Local kids come home — and the course is a real bear. Definitively a unique event."

Event organizer is Daybreak Racing, which offers such iconic trail runs as the Tillamook Burn, the Backcountry Rise and the Wy'east Howl.

The 50K race (31.2 miles), according to organizers, "offers magnificent views on a lollipop-loop style course along open dunes, forested single track trails and remote ocean beaches."

Check-in for the 50K is 6 a.m., the race starts at 7 a.m. and the cutoff is 4 p.m.

The 25K race is actually 27 kilometers or 16.5 miles long. Check-in is any time between 6 a.m. and 8:45 a.m., the race starts at 9 a.m. and the cutoff is 4 p.m.

Sadly, registration closed this past Saturday, but there's always next year.

Don't forget to bring your dog.

And don't forget the race supports Vikings athletes.