Palouse Duathlon will raise funds for Young Life camp

Athletes will get a first-hand tour of Palouse this weekend as they jog and bike a sometimes-hilly, sometimes-flat 14-mile route for the first-ever Palouse River Duathlon Saturday, May 14.

Starting time will be 10 a.m.

Organizer Mark Sawyer put together the duathlon to help raise funds for Moscow, Pullman and Palouse youths to attend a Young Life summer camp.

“It’s not just a running race- it’s a multi sporting event,” Sawyer told the Gazette.

Racers in all divisions will take off from the Palouse park at 10 a.m. Saturday. Timing will be done with computer chips.

Participants get a shirt with the race logo and a hot meal of pasta after the race. Skyworkers Band from Garfield/Palouse High School will perform.

Racers will start with a two-mile jog around the park and then head out past Palouse Grain Growers. They will eventually make a full loop of the town limits, ending back at city park.

The next leg of the race is a 10-mile bike ride which starts at the city park, runs through downtown and out North Palouse River Road. Racers will finish the bike race in the park and then jog two more miles of the same loop used for the first leg.

“There are some steep hills. It is a challenging course. It really shows off the beauty of the Palouse River and the Palouse region,” said Sawyer.

More than 20 volunteers will help direct race traffic.

Registration for individuals will be $50 and can be done the day of the race. For athletes 18 years and under, it will be $25. Registration starts at 8 a.m. and racers will be briefed about the course at 9:30 a.m.

Young Life is an international non-profit geared toward Christian ministry for youth. The Palouse area Young Life chapter includes members from Moscow, Pullman and Palouse.

The group plans to send up to 40 members to the Malibu Club summer camp in Canada the week of June 12.

Sawyer said the cost for a student to attend is steep- $500. He is hoping proceeds from the race can help his Palouse group attend the camp.

Sawyer has been an associate pastor at the Palouse Federated Church for the past two years and his wife Brittany works for a financial advising business in Pullman. He grew up in Potlatch and attended the Palouse Federated Church. He graduated from the UI with a degree in agriculture education.

After working in Washington for several years, Sawyer and his wife Brittany journeyed to Saipan to teach for several years.

The idea for the run in Palouse comes from Sawyer’s years working as a teacher in Saipan. He and his wife joined a racing community in Saipan and were regular participants in duathlons and triathlons.

Sawyer said on his return to the U.S. he wanted to re-create that atmosphere.

“I knew I was going to miss that culture. I wanted to do what I could to start that race culture down here in Palouse,” he said.