200 Miles in Oregon – The Oregon 200 is Bringing It

200 miles is a ridiculous distance. There, I said it. But let’s not look past the fact that a lot of ultra runners out there are doing 200 mile events, and doing them well. To date, there has never been a 200-miler in Oregon, until now. Go Beyond Racing is bringing it home with the Oregon 200, and it’s going to be epic!

According to race organizers, Todd and Renee Janssen, “This is a big deal. It’s big for us for sure, to produce our first 200-miler, but it is also a big thing for the state of Oregon and the town of Oakridge. We’re really excited for the runners who are taking on their first 200-mile distance (41% of entrants reported this is their first 200-miler) at the Oregon 200 this year.”

As mentioned above, the race starts and finishes in Oakridge. The course is an out-and-back route through the Willamette and Umpqua National Forests. There is 25,000 feet of elevation gain with equal loss. Runners will have 100 hours to complete the event.

The course is special for Go Beyond, which has been in the works for a few years now, and runs along parts of the Oregon Timber Trail, touching on Timpanogas and Little Indigo Lakes.

And while it has changed a little since its inception, due to wildfires and other issues, organizers have “worked hard to come up with a course that is scenic and interesting for the runners, but also very crew accessible. That is one of the things that we heard from 200-veterans that is a big headache and challenge at other races so we worked on making a course that has limited driving and easy-t0-navigate roads for the crew.”

As of now, there are just under 50 runners signed up, and organizers expect to have a much larger field next year. And while 200 miles might be a little much for most of us, there is still a way you can participate…as a volunteer! Go Beyond is in need of some people who can jump in and help. Click on the link above and register to volunteer through UltraSignup. Maybe next year you come back and run it!