Asotin Island Run

The first meet of the year for the Asotin teams - the Asotin Island Run - runs on Chief Timothy Island in Clarkston, Washington on September 14th.

The course is short of the full 5K distance used for championship meets which is a definite advantage early in the season when the kids are still working on fitness. Tim Gundy, the head coach at Asotin, set up the race in 2007 and it's become a regional favorite for small schools with teams coming down from Moscow, Idaho and up from Enterprise, Oregon.

The course for the high school does a pair of laps - a shorter 1 mile loop along the west end of the island that returns the runners to the start line then sends them on a longer 1.6 mile loop. Two-thirds of the course is on dirt track and has small rolling hills. The backside of the big loop does have one short hard climb. The junior high teams - and there is usually a good turnout here as well - runs just the longer loop.

The race finishes under the trees of the park and there is plenty of grassy space for the teams to spread out under the shade. Many teams take advantage of the water and splash in the river before loading up and heading home.

Spectators are always welcome and there is usually good crowd to cheer the runners on.

More info on the Asotin Island Run can be found at athletic.net