Quite the cape-r
Go the distance at the Three Capes Marathon Relay
For her first full marathon, Cloverdale resident Heidi Holzgrafe chose to run the Three Capes Marathon Relay in 2022, solo.
“It was wonderful,” she said. “The course is unbelievable. There is a community sense, and it was much more so being from the community. It has a hometown kind of feel.”
The Three Capes Marathon Relay, taking place this Saturday, Feb. 22, is a 26.2-mile course traveling the Three Capes Scenic Loop, starting at Cape Meares Lake, passing Cape Lookout and ending at the beach in Pacific City. Starting and ending at sea level, there is nearly 2,400 feet of climb within the course, making for a challenging race.
Holzgrafe ended up placing 10th overall in the Women’s Solo Marathon division of the 2022 event in a time of 5:34:39.
“I would say it’s a challenging, beautiful course,” she said. “You have to do it once in your lifetime.”
The rugged and hilly course passes through or runs adjacent to six state parks, two National Wildlife Refuges and multiple Tillamook County parks and boasts stunning vantage points of the Tillamook Bay, Netarts Bay and the Pacific Ocean. Local spectators are encouraged to come out and cheer participants along.
The Three Capes Marathon Relay is an event hosted by Ultimook, a nonprofit that supports local kids’ running programs and helps young long-distance runners develop in both mind and body.
One of the programs under the Ultimook umbrella is the Ultimook Running Camp: a week-long high school cross country training camp hosted at the Hydrangea Ranch in Tillamook.
“It’s hard to know whether you’re training hard until you’ve surrounded yourself with better runners,” Ultimook Running Camp Director Drew Wasmund said. “This camp is an unbelievable opportunity to broaden your horizons and become a student of the sport.”
Each day of camp is highlighted by a different type of run and training — sand, hills or trails —with workouts tailored to all levels. from beginner to all-state runners.
“The Ultimook Running Camp is a legend of the Northwest,” said Ultimook Running Camp founder Patrick Zweifel. “It’s rugged beauty, old-school grit.”
Many athletes remember the Sasquatch Games as a favorite experience at camp. The games facilitate teamwork and leadership through activities such as a: geocache run, log carry relay, paintball biathlon competition and the chocolate milk mile.
“I believe leadership and teamwork are the keys to great team success,” Zweifel said. “The primary focus of the Ultimook Running Camp is to build better leaders and facilitate great teamwork. The Sasquatch Games is the ultimate team-building exercise and the highlight of camp. The moment you put your team in front of yourself is the moment that special things begin to happen for your team and yourself. Our hope is that you take this energy back home to your teams and lead them to a state championship!”
Registration for the Three Capes Marathon Relay is open until the night before the event. Participants can choose between running the race as a solo marathon, a two-person team, or a five-person team. The course is separated into five legs which vary in distances from 4.37 miles to just under seven miles. Team categories include: family, business, school or Clydesdale.
Cost for registration is $339 for a five-person team, $165 for a two-person team and $95 for solo marathoners. Every participant will receive a custom Three Capes Relay Medal when crossing the finish line. Register online at threecapesrelay.com.
High school and middle school teams can receive a discount by using the code: "High School Runner" when registering to receive 30 percent off the team fee.
This year two sessions of the Ultimook Running Camp will be held: Aug. 3 through 9 and Aug. 10 through 16.
Additional events and programs hosted by Ultimook include the Ultramook 50k on July 12, the Ultimook High School Cross Country Race on Sept. 6 and the Ultimook Track Club Youth Running. For more information, go to oregoncoastalflowers.com.