Information about The Run In the Country

The Run In the Country consists of Half Marathon Walk, Half Marathon Run and Relay and a Kids Fun Run followed by awards.

The Run In the Country started in 1997 as an event "designed by runners, for runners." We continue to make all of our decisions based on making the race better for the participants. The event is brought to you by Mike Milbradt, Brad Putnam, Dave Wisniewski, and Mark Humphreys. We are four friends, all runners, who produce the race to give back to the running community; we do not make any money from the race. Our first goal is to put on a quality event for the participants. To us that means a race that starts on time, is well marked, has plenty of aid, is accurately measured with accurate splits, has accurate timing, a quality tech-fabric participant's shirt and a reasonable entry fee. If we can provide that and still make a little money, the profits all either go back into the race or are donated to non-profit organizations, primarily ones that involve youth being physically active.

The same group of Race Directors also direct the McKenzie River Trail Run, a 50K run on the beautiful McKenzie River Trail held each September. The event is part of the Oregon Ultra Series and is the oldest Ultra run in Oregon.

Budget Info

A few things about our budget from the 2009 Run In the Country that participants may find interesting. Based on 200 participants, of the $35 entry fee:

The remaining $8.00 per entry covered miscellaneous small expenses, with the balance getting donated. We donated a total of $2,225 to five organizations in 2010.

2009 Race Report

The 2009 Run In the Country had 218 half marathon runners and walkers and 11 relay teams. The runners and walkers enjoyed cooler temperatures than usual, but were challenged by a strong head wind on the north bound leg. Coburg resident Brad Chvatal won the race with a time of 1:13:27. Defending RITC champion Denise Bourassa from Eugene again finished first among the women with a time of 1:31:37. Craig Godwin, 42 and from Eugene, was the top Master runner in a time of 1:15:42. The Masters women's race was won by Rachel Adamec, 42 from Albany, with a time of 1:33:30. In addition to some strong performances among the top finishers, we enjoyed an impressive showing by the 6 competitors in the men 70+ age group. Larry Williams, 73 from Springfield lead the pack with an impressive time of 1:45:13. The oldest finisher was Al Oppliger, 77 from Monmouth, with a time of 2:28. At the other end of the age scale, Harrisburg High School runner Brayon Mendoza, 17, turned in a strong performance with a 1:31 finish time.

Run With The Race Directors

Each year at 7:00 AM on the Saturday before the race, we hold the Run With the Race Directors on the Half Marathon course . The run is for volunteers, friends and sponsors who are unable to race on Sunday. This is a no cost, no frills, no aid (bring your own water), non-timed fun run. Please email the race directors if you want to participate. We run the entire course, stopping to scrape dead animals off of the side of the road, marking the splits, and enjoying the company of each other prior to the race craziness.