Advance registration for the Vancouver USA Marathon ends at 6 p.m. on Friday.
The fifth-year event takes place on June 21, with the start and finish at Esther Short Park in downtown Vancouver.
Through Friday. the cost to enter the marathon is $100, the price of the half-marathon is $80 and the cost of the Freedom 5-K, to be held on June 20, is $40. Runners can register through June 20 in person at the fitness expo, but prices there will be $125 for the marathon and $95 for the half-marathon.
The course is a certified qualifier for the Boston Marathon. Race director Brian Davis said 45 states and seven countries are represented among those who have registered. Davis said advance registration is similar to 2013, when about 2,000 runners combined finished the marathon and the half marathon. A feature in Runners World magazine boosted participation last summer, when nearly 2,500 completed those races.
This year the waterfront portion of the course will be re-introduced and a portion of the course around the Grand Central shopping center will be adjusted to lessen traffic impact.
To register, or to learn more, visit www.vancouverusamarathon.com.
Royal Oaks awards scholarships
Ben Gruher, Spencer Tibbits and Audrianna Kallie are the winners of the 2015 Royal Oaks Country Club High School Scholar Golf Athlete Awards.
Each will receive courtesy membership privileges to Royal Oaks Country Club for as long as they play high school golf.
“The selection process was extremely difficult, all of the young men and women have outstanding resumes,” said Marcia LaFond, the club manager of Royal Oaks. “Our initial two recipients of this award have gone on to play collegiate golf. We are looking forward to watching the progress of the other scholar golfers.”
Gruher, a sophomore at Camas High School, is the son of Jim and Monica Gruher. Tibbits, a sophomore at the Academy of Home Education who plays high school golf for Fort Vancouver, is the son of Stephen and Ronelle Tibbits. Kallie, a sophomore at Washougal High School, is the daughter of Tray and Shelli Kallie.
Royal Oaks started the Scholar Golf Athlete program in 2012.
The award winner must maintain a minimum grade-point average of 3.0 while in the program, and must play high school golf. Those who go on to play college golf might be eligible to continue to receive courtesy membership privileges with the approval of the NCAA and the student’s college.
Past recipients of Royal Oaks High School Scholar Golf Athlete Awards include Diego De La Torre, Madelynne Pirkl, Bridget Standard and Brian Humphreys.
Locals place at Blue Lake Triathlons
Matt LeGrand of Camas placed seventh in the Olympic-distance triathlon on Sunday at Blue Lake Park in Fairview, Ore.
LeGrand, 36, finished in 2 hours, 7 minutes and 51 seconds. The race consisted of a 1.5-kilometer swim, a 40-kilometer bike ride and a 10-kilometer run.
In the shorter sprint triathlon, held Saturday, Michael Bruns of Vancouver placed fifth with a time of 1:02:16. The sprint triathlon consisted of a half-mile swim, 12-mile bike ride and 5-kilometer run.
The 34th-annual Blue Lake multi-sport event also included two run-bike-run duathlons. In the Olympic duathlon on Sunday, Darin Swan of Vancouver placed fourth with a time of 2:26:04. The race started with a 5-kilometer run followed by a 40-kilometer bike ride and a 10-kilometer run.
The sprint duathlon held on Saturday featured a 5-kilometer run, 12-mile bike ride and another 5-kilometer run. Matthew Doss of Vancouver placed fourth in that race with a time of 1:27:12. Kim Kloft of Vancouver was the fifth woman to finish the sprint duathlon. Her time was 1:36.19.
CCRC series continues
For the second week in a row, Oscar Bauman of Vancouver won the Clark County Running Club’s summer 5-kilometer race.
Bauman won the June 3 run at David Douglas Park with a time of 15 minutes and 41 seconds, 17 seconds quicker than his time over the same 3.1-mile course the previous Wednesday. He finished one second ahead of Jesse McChesney and two seconds before his brother Ahrlin Bauman.
Katarina Mueller of Vancouver was the first female finisher for the second week in a row. Her time was 21:31.
A total of 103 runners completed the run, which followed park trails and neighboring streets. Complete results are in the Community Sports Scoreboard.
The series of Wednesday 5-kilometer runs moves this week to Heritage High School, 7825 N.E. 130th Ave., Vancouver. The Heritage High course is described as flat, will be used for the June 10 and June 17.
The run starts at 7 p.m. and participants should arrive by 6:30 to register and to warm up. The run costs $2, and is free for members of the Clark County Running Club.
COMMUNITY SPORTS NEWS is published each Tuesday. Submit items by sending email to paul.danzer@columbian.com or by calling 360-735-4521.
