RUNNERS READY FOR ROBIN HILL

Participants in the 2007 Robin Hill Run/Walk make their way up the park’s long meadow hill trail. Photo by Michael Dashiell

Sequim — April 8, 2008

As fun as the course is, the directions — particularly near the end — got a little confusing.

That’s why the Robin Hill Run’s shorter event got transformed from a five-kilometer race to a three-mile one, says race organizer Carol Clayton.

And while a tenth of a mile may seem insignificant, for runners and walkers in past years who cut short the course or lost time thanks to confusion, it’s a welcome change.

“We did modify the course slightly; we took out a little out-and-back before the finish,” Clayton said. “The course is a little complicated. The last little out-and-back is easy to miss. It’s a little bit easier for the runners and easier for us to set up.”

Most of the Robin Hill Run remains the same, however, with a loop through the park’s meadows and, for the 10-kilometer runners, a 3.2-mile, out-and-back jaunt along the nearby Olympic Discovery Trail.

Clayton said race organizers will try to tape off areas where runners aren’t supposed to go.

Still, Clayton said, it’s a good idea to check out the online course map (athleteschoice.info).

Last year, despite a driving rain, Sequim teachers Don Lichten and Laura Gould won the men’s and women’s 10k races. Lichten won the 10k in 41:57 while Gould finished third overall with a 42:33 mark.

Shane Dinius and Stephanie Marcy, then Sequim High School seniors, won the 5k men’s and women’s divisions. Dinius finished in 19:07 while Marcy was sixth overall, completing the course in 20:16.

After Robin Hill, the next community run is the two-mile and 10k Sequim Run Off, slated for May 3.

The Sequim Run Off courses also are getting slight modifications. The 10k no longer makes a path across a ditch on Frick Road. Instead, 10k runners will follow the two-mile crew and then split off to Lotzgesell, Ward, Woodcock and Towne roads as usual. The two-mile runners get a small out-and-back to make up for a modified start.

At both races, Clayton said, the hand-held radio community is volunteering their time to help runners, as are local law enforcement officers.