Grey Rock ready to run
In only its third year, Saturday’s Grey Rock 50K Trail Run in the Ahtanum has transformed itself from a seemingly doomed endeavor into a legitimate fundraising event … and an ultramarathon of growing renown.
After attracting just seven starters (six of whom actually finished) for its 2005 debut, the Grey Rock 50K drew
10 entrants last year and another six to the accompanying 25K run. And this year those numbers will essentially double, with 23 to 25 runners expected to line up for the 50K and 10 to 12 in the 25K. A half-dozen entrants are coming from outside Washington.
“The first year I thought, that’s it, we’re toast, this thing’s never going to fly,” said Gailon Gentry, who organizes the event as a fundraiser for the Ahtanum Valley Museum. “But it’s been good. The first couple of years it made a little money, and this year could pull in about $1,500 for a little, tiny museum society.
“It’s been kind of neat how this thing has turned around.”
Read the rest at Yakima Herald Republic Online
