Thousands hit the streets for Eugene’s Butte to Butte race

Independence Day in Eugene doesn’t begin when grills fire up, or when the sun sets or even when fireworks light the sky. It starts long before, at sunrise, in running shoes.

Thousands laced up Friday morning, July 4, to run in the Butte to Butte, a 51-year-old race organized by the Oregon Track Club featuring a 5K, 10K and the 4 Mile Mayor’s Fitness Walk. The races stretch from Spencer Butte to Skinner’s Butte, cutting north through Eugene and ending at High Street and 5th Avenue. 

Nearly 5,000 people registered to run this year, race director William Wyckoff said, which, according to an event announcer, included runners from 42 states and eight countries — a mix of professionals, amateurs, wheelchair athletes, seniors, small children and even a few dogs.

The holiday spirit was in full force along the course. Runners and spectators were decked out in red, white and blue, several outfits complete with glitter and pom-poms. One sported a hot dog costume; another wore an inflatable Uncle Sam suit. 

For some, the race provided a moment of connection on a holiday they felt conflicted about celebrating because of the current political climate.

“There’s a lot of beautiful, good things worth still fighting for, for America, and that’s why I’m showing up,” said Will Dixon, 58, who ran in the 5k. “I’m not gonna just hide in my house.”

Organizing the annual race requires 58 police officers, 100 course marshals and the coordination of shuttles, toilets and what the race director called “all kinds of infrastructural items that nobody ever sees.” 

But for runners crossing the finish line to roars, cowbells and music from live band Guilty Pleasures, the result was a full-on party. They poured into a nearby lot lined with booths for running clubs, race sponsors and vendors, including a beer-on-tap tent from Silver Falls Brewery. 

“It’s a labor of love,” Wyckoff said. “It’s always been exceptional.”

Liam Meirow won the men’s 5K race with a time of 14:27 and Jenn Randall won the women’s 5K race at 15:59. 

In the 10K, Aaron Bienenfeld won with a time of 28:50 and Melissa Barry took first for women at 34:55. Wyatt Sullivan and Chrissy Strickland won the 4 Mile Walk with times of 30:21 and 32:51, respectively. 

The top three finishers of the men’s and women’s 5k received flowers and giant checks of $200, $150 and $100. Winners of the 10K received checks of $250, $200 and $150. 

Maren Tomblin, a member of a RunHub Northwest-sponsored run club, overcame her dislike for mornings to wake up for the 5K race — her sixth in the last two years — fueled by “power waffles” and a banana. She met her goal, finishing under 30 minutes at 28:31. 

“Everyone is welcome to participate,” Tomblin said. “I felt really welcomed.”

The race marked the third-ever 10K for Nolan Leber and Matt Johnson, members of the Drew Brew Crew run club. Resting on a curb near the finish line, Johnson recounted the difficulty running the last 200 meters of the “brutal hill” at the beginning of the course. 

“No matter where you are, you’re going to recognize somebody either cheering for you or running with you, or really anything around the race, because it’s a close-knit community,” Leber said.

Andrea Castelli McCourt, who ran the 5K this year after previously completing the 10K twice, showed up to the race in festive blue shiny gear alongside three generations of her family. 

She encouraged her daughter to keep running throughout the course until her daughter kicked into a final sprint near the finish, leaving her mom behind. 

“I do tend to have a little bit of mixed feelings about how to celebrate the Fourth of July, but I appreciate this as being like, it’s a very Eugene event,” Castelli McCourt said. “It brings the community here together.”