I’m a sucker for harvest festivals. There is just something fun about walking around a farm on a cool autumn afternoon in rain boots and sampling local, seasonal fare and sipping warm apple cider. Add in a pumpkin patch and a corn maze, and you have all the makings of seasonal masterpiece. Yes, even with all the rain and the continually shorter days, October in Oregon can truly be a great time.
Prizes and games from the 2012 event.
If the race course (not yet posted) is anything like year’s passed, they are pretty straight forward and flat. Historically, runners start by heading south on 82nd Avenue towards Sunnyview Road. A short jaunt will be taken east until competitors head back north on Howell Prairie Road for about a mile. The final stretch is heading west on Lardon Road until completing the loop back at 82nd Ave and the farm. The 10k makes a figure eight on some other quiet country roads. And since the finish line is right at the corn maze entrance, you may be able to spend your cool down getting lost in a field of maize. While the majority of the race will be spent on roadways, being this distance away from the heart of Salem will likely keep car traffic to a minimum.
After the race, you may want to stick around a while and do the normal harvest festival-ly things. There will be a pumpkin patch, barrel train, mini zip-lines, corn crib, hay maze, pumpkin launchers, great food, and much more to enjoy. Registration includes participant’s admission to the Harvest Festival, $2 discounts on admissions for family members, and a “hand held pie” (aka turnover)!
Pie in the Sky 10k and 5k (Salem)
What time: The 10k starts at 9a, 5k at 930a, and the Family Fun Run at 1030a
Where: Willamette Valley Fruit Company at 2994 82 Ave NE
Register: Click here to sign up online: $18 (or $22 DOR); Add $12 for cotton and $20 for technical shirt.
