PORT ANGELES — Saturday will bring the return of the Frosty Moss Relay, a team endurance race from the Sol Duc Valley to Blyn that also manages to be fun and whimsical with teams competing in costumes and even dressing up their support vehicles in themes.
The event, put on by Peninsula Adventure Sports, couldn’t happen without an army of volunteers and local businesses supporting the race, manning 14 exchange zones over 80 miles between Cooper Ranch Road west of Lake Crescent and Blyn.
“The exchange zones are the backbone of the event. This is where one relay team member hands off to another, and a lot of the fun happens,” race director Lorrie Mittmann said. “The exchange is where the teams waiting for their runner really get a chance to get to know each other. Teams of similar speed end up socializing their way across the county.”
These groups include: YMCA Youth in Government, Port Angeles High School Key Club (Kiwanis), Back Country Horsemen, Crescent Bay Lions, Sea Scouts, Field Hall, Sequim High School Cross Country, Peninsula Trails Coalition, Port Scandalous Roller Derby, 7 Cedars Casino, Moss Boutique, the North Olympic Healthcare Network and the Sequim-Dungeness Chamber of Commerce.
The race also receives help from Clallam County Amateur Radio Emergency Services, Clallam Fire District 2 and the Clallam County Community Emergency Response Teams, as well as lodging tax grants from Clallam County, the cities of Port Angeles and Sequim and Olympic Peninsula Visitors Bureau.
“I also have volunteers that help with racers check-in, bicycle sweep of the entire 80 miles, course-marking volunteers ahead of the race, and something I call ‘halo brigade’ — they bike out after dark from the finish line and find any runners who are out there in the dark by themselves and see if they want company. If they do, they bike to the finish line with them,” Mittmann said.
“Race day is grueling, but the volunteers make it fun along the way. I love being part of a community that supports each other,” said race volunteer coordinator Michell Gentry.
In addition to being hubs of fun, the exchange zones are where the progress and safety of the event is monitored. Volunteers from Clallam County ARES are on hand to help with communications, and there are bicycle sweeps following the last runner in. The race EMT works his or her way along the course from one exchange to another, and the race staff are also working their way from exchange to exchange throughout the 16-hour race.
There also are a pair of families who provide volunteer help. The Bryant family comes out most every year, winning the best exchange zone contest in 2020 with its “Woodland Fairies” theme and in 2023 with “Man Cave” theme and in 2024 with its “Sasquatch” theme.
Another family volunteering this year is “LDS Young Men and Young Women” led by Brittany Hales.
Other theme winners over the years include the Back Country Horsemen in 2019 and 2021 and the Sequim High School cross-country team in 2022.
Sign-ups are full for the Frosty Moss. Peninsula Adventure Sports also puts on other endurance events around the Olympic Peninsula, including the Olympic Adventure Trail run in April, the Great Olympic Adventure Trail Run in September, the Big Hurt in September, the Salt Creek 24 in October and the Gravel Unravel in June and July.
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Sports Editor Pierre LaBossiere can be contacted at 360-417-3525 or sports@peninsuladailynews.com.
