Announcement

YOU! Are. All. Amazing.

I mean… what runs, what performances, what incredible grit. Through the dust and noise, up that gnarly trail to the summit, over and over and over again.. wow! Hats off to you. I stand in awe.

Here’s what you accomplished together:

• 92 summit visits of our favorite Rock Candy Mountain.
• 552 miles run, shuffled, climbed up, and bombed down these gnarly trails.
• And a collective and staggering 170,200ft of vertical gained…

Wow!

Women took the first and second place overall!
Emily Geyman was the only one finishing 8 loops. And Rachel Craig and Brent Miller both finished 7 loops, but Rachel arrived back at the finish a few minutes before Brent, thus claiming second place!

VERT is calling your name! Let’s chase it.

This Saturday, September 17th will be the very first Rock Candy Mountain Run. And we’re so excited to have you all come out to the Capitol Forest!

First off:
We want to respectfully acknowledge that all our trail races here in the South Sound are on the traditional territories of the Coast Salish people, specifically the Nisqually, Cowliz, Chehalis and Squaxin Island peoples

The Washington State Department of Natural Resources granted us a special use permit for the event. Thank you!

ALRIGHT, LET’S GET TO THE DETAILS!

DIRECTION AND PARKING:
Our website has all the info on how to get to Rock Candy. 10517 Rock Candy Mountain Rd SW – Olympia, WA is the address. Use the main parking lot to park, there will be plenty of space.

DISCOVER PASS:
To park at the trailhead starting line you need a WA State Discover Pass.

PACKAGE PICKUP:
Day of racing registration and bib pickup will be available starting at 5:00am at race headquarters at the main parking lot at Rock Candy trailhead – orange tent!

PRE-RACING BRIEFING and RACE START:
We’ll have a brief pre-race briefing at 5:45. Race starts: 6am.
That means, headlamp start, folks! 6am is still dark out.

THE ROUTE:
The race route will be marked with bright signage and ribbons. You climb the to the summit at Rock Candy and bomb back down with a couple variation along the trail. Be aware of the runners coming toward you on the trail as you heading uphill and be mindful as you’re bombing down. Hey, give them a high five and cheer them on!

HOW WE’LL TRACK RUNNERS:
This is your race. Run one loop, we’ll cheer. Run all the loops we’ll cheer for you. Yes, there will be a stop watch running, counting down the 12 hours. We’ll have a board tracking each runner’s progress and how many loops they completed. Be sure to check in each loop to get your progress counted and tracked.
At the summit you must mark your bib with the tool provided. We will check you in upon return to the finish line. Only completed loops will count and the male and female runners with the most loops completed will be crowned Legends of Rock Candy.

AID STATION:
We will have an aid station next to the race headquarters by the start/finish of each loop. At the aid station we’ll have water, Tailwind and the usual fair of fruit, salty snacks and ramen, etc. This is a cupless race, so prepare accordingly and bring a cup or flask. Bring a camping chair!

There will be a simple self-serve aid station at the summit with some Tailwind and water, please be mindful of other runners and only use what you need to get back down the mountain.

WEATHER:
The forecast for Saturday calls for perfect racing weather. A high of 64F and no precipitation, for now. Cool, overcast, amazing!

RESTROOMS AND RECYCLING:
Restrooms are available in the parking lot area. We ask that you do your best to keep it clean and to throw all trash in the garbage cans. Please help to keep them as clean as you can.
Bins for recycling & food waste will be available as well. Volunteers on race day can point you in the direction to the proper receptacles.

OPEN TRAILS:
The trails of Rock Candy mountain will be open to other trail users during the race. This can include moto users on some sections of the trail. Be extra careful and please be respectful and kind and be a good ambassador for our trail running community!

ANY OTHER QUESTIONS?
Lots of useful info on our race Info page here.
Anything else? Please reach out!

LBA – The Best One Yet!

Yes, it was another incredible day at LBA Park and the new format was really fun and worked very well.

The full results are now uploaded. Collectively you clocked over 600 miles out there this weekend. How incredible is this?

We’re so stoked to welcome you all back to L.B.A. park this weekend. The trails are just as twisty as you remember. The woods are ready for all you racers, and so are we. Below are all the important things you need to know to have an amazing and successful race. Read up, see you Saturday, bright and early!

Last year we planted 100 trees with ONETREEPLANTED. For every runner running our races we take one dollar and we plant a tree in a National Forest in the US. We decided to do this instead of handing out cheap, throwaway swag you often find in race bags. Trees are awesome, and this feels right and good.

For the year 2022 we are aiming for 300… maybe even 500 trees? So, for every race you run with Rock Candy Running, one tree is planted and the world is just made a little better. Come join us!

Wow! What an incredible race day we had this weekend. Thank you, thank you thank you all for coming out to Hoodsport and racing Mount Ellinor with us. What an incredible experience to stand at the finish line, and after month of preparation, welcome you all back from your adventure on these epic trails up and down this beautiful mountain. You all did so well!

Thank you to our amazing volunteers, on the summit, at the aid station, and back down at camp. Thank you to the National Forest for maintaining these wonderful trails and sharing them with us. And thank you to our sponsors. I will be in touch soon with our DFL racers for coupon codes to next year’s races.

Below are your 2022 podiums for both the summit race and the forest loop. For full results check out website and UltraSignup.

A few amazing volunteers took to some photos I posted here. You’re free to use them for your personal use. Thank you Amanda, Justin and Robb. 

See you all in 2023!

It is really happening, folks.
This Saturday, July 23rd will be the 12th running of the Beast of Big Creek, and the first hosted by Rock Candy Running. We’re honored that race director John Johnson trusted us to carry that torch into the future. We also want to acknowledge that the race is on the traditional territories of the Twana/Skokomish, Coast Salish and S’Klallam people.
The Olympic National Forest granted us a special use permit for the event. Thank you!

Need a cool podcast to get you in the mood while driving to Hoodsport?

It is almost time to race. Beast of Big Creek is just around the corner and I couldn’t be more excited. To share a bit of the history of the race and what makes it such so a special event, I have fellow podcaster, trail runner, and Olympia local Ben Mead with me this week. Look for Ben at the summit turnaround.

Summer is in full swing, we might even get some sun around here, and preparation for our first two trail races, Beast of Big Creek and Little Backyard Adventure Six Hours are keeping us awake at night brimming with excitement.

A couple notes I wanted to pass on, especially for the trails at Mt. Ellinor.

• There is still snow. How much, especially as things melt out with the incoming hotter weather I won’t be able to share with you, due to my second point.
• The National Forest is closing the trail for yet another round of ‘goat removal’.

The good news is that goats will be off the mountain by the time the race is happening. The unfortunate side effect of this is that I won’t be able to give you a clearer picture of the conditions of the trails. As soon as I have more info, I will let you all know. Fingers crossed snow will all be gone and running will be smooth. Or as smooth as it gets, I can’t do anything about the vert.

Except a full pre-race briefing update by next week!

Hello summer!
Our races are knocking at the door and we’re super excited to bring you The Beast of Big Creek, Little Backyard Adventure Six Hour and the Twelve Hours at Rock Candy.
To make this all happen we’re looking for a few friendly helpers who’d be willing to volunteer at these events.

Our biggest needs is for Beast of Big Creek (July, 23rd, Hoodsport, WA). This year’s our first time organizing this event and we want to make sure we got plenty of people taking care of our runners.
We’re looking for some amazing folks willing to climb to the summit and check runners off. We need some help at the mid-point aid station and at start and finish.

For LBA (August, 6th) we’re looking for folks who can help with check-in, time keeping and the aid station. This race is right in Olympia and easy to get to.

As a thank you, we’ll provide free race entries to any of our races.

Please get in touch if you can help out and if you have any questions:
volunteer@rockcandyrunning.com or 360.401.9308.

Thank you in advance!

Alright, here’s the announcement we’ve been waiting for. Beast of Big Creek (The Summit Race) is a UTMB Index race! No stones (yet!) but finishing Beast will get you finisher index. More details on the UTMB website.

So incredibly stoked over here! Come race with us on July 23rd, 2022.