Half marathon double-booking

One of my Twitter followers posed an interesting question recently.

From @DanMonaghanJr: we have very few half marathon races in Clark County and Lacamas & Harvest Days are on the same day this year! whats the story?

(Follow me on Twitter: @col_health)

A quick search online showed me that both events are scheduled for Sunday, July 22.

So I checked in with Elba Benzler, event director for Get BOLD Events, which organizes the Harvest Days Half Marathon.

Both events – the Lacamas Lake Half Marathon and the Harvest Days Half Marathon – are tied to festivals in their respective towns, Camas and Battle Ground.

The Battle Ground Chamber of Commerce hosts the Harvest Days Festival every year on the third weekend of July.

This year, however, July 1 falls on a Sunday. The chamber elected to not count that as the first weekend of the month, meaning Harvest Days will take place July 20-22.

The Camas-Washougal Chamber of Commerce hosts Camas Days on the fourth weekend of July. The chamber followed Battle Ground’s example and scheduled their events for July 27-28.

But the organizer for the Lacamas Lake Half Marathon wasn’t involved in those discussions and planned his event for July 22.

Voila. Two half marathons scheduled on the same day.

Benzler said it’s too late to change the dates for this year’s events.

“However, we have learned from this and made note to communicate in the years to come so that our half marathon runs are on different weekends,” Benzler said.

“Our runners mean so much to us and we are sorry for the dishearten they are feeling,” he continued. “We do hear our runners and will work extra hard to prevent this in the future.”

If you’re looking for a local half marathon, here are some other upcoming events:

Vancouver USA Half Marathon (and marathon), June 17.

Every Girl’s ½ Marathon (formerly Run Girl Run Half Marathon), Aug. 19.

North County Wine Run, Sept. 22.

Girlfriends Half Marathon, Oct. 14.