This will be a busy weekend for outdoors and sporting events on the Olympic Peninsula with hundreds of fans and competitors pouring into the area to run, mountain bike and drive jet boats.
Going on all weekend will be the finals in the NW Cup downhill mountain bike series at Dry Hill, the second running at the Extreme Sports Park of the American Sprint Boat Pro Racing Series and the Great Olympic Adventure Trail run in the hills west of Port Angeles. Several hundred people are coming for each event.
NW Cup
The NW Cup finals will be held at Dry Hill for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic. There were two other NW Cup races held at Dry Hill this spring and summer. Races also are held throughout the summer at downhill tracks at Stevens Pass and in Whitefish, Mont., and Tamarack, Idaho.
“Our race seems to be everyone’s favorite venue,” race organizer Scott Tucker said.
Tucker said 400 to 450 riders are expected to compete. He said Dry Hill is one of the most popular tracks in the NW Cup series and that the Port Angeles-based event also is popular with mountain bikers from nearby Victoria and other parts of British Columbia. Expect to see a lot of mountain bikes on the MV Coho all weekend.
Today and Saturday will be practice runs at Dry Hill with the NW Cup Finals beginning at 9 a.m. Sunday. The races should finish sometime about 3 p.m. There are categories that range from novice to intermediate, expert and professional with many of the top pro riders from Canada attending.
Tucker said parking is very limited and there are no shuttles this year. He said spectators are encouraged to ride their bikes to the event if they can.
Sprint boats
The American Sprint Boat Pro Racing Series will return to Extreme Sports Park this weekend with up to 40 boats from all over the Pacific Northwest competing for two days.
The races were expanded from one day to two because of the growth in number of teams.
Extreme Sports Park is located a few miles west of Port Angeles. Racers will arrive from all over Washington, Idaho, Oregon and British Columbia with some of the teams based in faraway New Zealand. The races are sponsored by ASBR and STIHL.
Races will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday and Sunday with gates opening at 8:30 a.m.
Sprint boat racing has four classes of boats over a course that changes with each race and must be quickly memorized by both the driver and a navigator in the boat.
There is a new LS Chevy Class this year, joining the modified, 400 and unlimited classes.
Preliminary racing heats will be held all day Saturday with the finals beginning Sunday afternoon.
Camping already is open and there will be a beer garden during the races. Kids 5 and younger get in free. Kids ages 6-17 cost $20 for one day and $30 for both days. Adults tickets are $40 for one day and $60 for both days. There are discounts for military personnel and seniors older than 65.
The weekend’s events begin with a “Show and Shine” at nearby Lower Elwha Food & Fuel on U.S. Highway 101 and South Dry Creek Road from 4 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. today. Many of the racers and their boats will be at the site, showing off their high-powered machines. Entry is fee and there will be a food trailer available.
GOAT run
There also will be the Great Olympic Adventure Trail 50K, marathon and half-marathon run through the forests and hills west of Port Angeles on Saturday.
A total of 399 people had signed up for the GOAT run as of Wednesday, according to race director Lorrie Mittmann.
The race is put on by Peninsula Adventure Sports, which also puts on the Big Hurt in Port Angeles on Sept. 28, the Little Hurt at Peninsula College on Sept. 29 and other endurance events such as the Salt Creek 24 on Oct. 26-27 and the Frosty Moss Relays in March.
While the Big Hurt has longer distances, the GOAT Run is arguably the toughest event put on by Peninsula Adventure Sports because it is all running and there is a lot of uphill climbing.
The GOAT run has a 50K (30.2 miles) race that contains 3,800 feet of climbing, a marathon with 3,465 feet of climbing and a half-marathon with 1,516 feet of climb. All three races go along the Olympic Adventure Trail over Kelly Ridge and finish at Log Cabin Resort along the shore of Lake Crescent.
The 50K will begin at 7:30 a.m. Saturday, the marathon at 8:30 a.m. and two waves of half-marathon at 10 a.m. and 11 a.m.
Temperatures are expected to be warm for all three events with highs reaching the low 80s by mid-afternoon.
