Click here to go to the registration website for the Yakima Skyline Rim 50k/25k on April 3, 2011.
For those of you who have not yet been enlightened or who are trapped for one reason or another on the wet(sic) side of the hill I have created a cure for your plight(though it's only tempoary). The Yakima Rim Skyline 50k and 25k is your saviour when you need one the most. The sun shines there on that high open ridgeline. It really does. Yes in April. There's no mud either or wet brush that soaks you to the core. You can see forever and it feels good!
Sure the trail is steep and hard and relentless and has more elevation gain than Orcas Island but at least you can see where you're going and where you've been. With each climb you're rewarded with ever expanding views of the Columbia Highlands, the Yakima River Canyon and the Cascade Mountains including Mt. Rainier, Mt. Adams and the Stuart Range. Also as you climb in and out the Umtanum and Roza creek valleys you see the ecosystem change before your eyes. And the ridge running here is liberating and invigorating.
I've chosen each of my races very carefully and I love them all but this one stands out from the rest by allowing the runners to run moderately high(3500ft) in the mountains early in the year snow free and by being such a great escape of the seemingly endless of winter. Summer starts early in the Rainshadow-- April 3rd at the Yakima Skyline Rim 50k and 25k!