81 brave souls

post written by Matt & Kerri Stebbins

81 BRAVE SOULS. That's what we'd call our debut #Orcas100 album were we recording one this weekend.

We're psyched and proud to have 81 diverse and collectively courageous folks on the roster for this weekend's inaugural Orcas Island 100, especially because this inaugural roster is one of the most varied and badass of any we've seen:

• We have 19 women and 62 men, with UltraSignup results ranging from 1 race all the way to 144 races.
• We have runners from the Pacific Northwest, Alaska, BC, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Iowa, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Washington DC, Maine, New York, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Spain, and Japan!
• We have runners who have been running for decades, and some who just started running in the last few years.
• We have 12 runners with at least 10 (TEN!) 100-mile finishes.
• We have 18 runners who chose the Orcas 100 as their first 100-miler.
• We have 2 runners who finished in the Top 10 at the HURT 100 a mere month ago.
• We have runners who have been racing since 1995, 2004, 2007, 2011, and all the years in between, leading up to someone who just started running trail races in 2015.
• We have two runners with at least 35 100-mile (or longer!) finishes - one male, and one female.
• We have veteran Rainshadow runners - one of whom has raced on Orcas for the past 11 years, ever since the very first Orcas fat-ass races - and folks who have never before seen a Rainshadow race.
• We have runners who love running in the heat, and runners who love running in the damp and cold.
• We have runners who volunteer as much as they run, and runners who are already signed up for three or more 100-milers this year alone.
• We have runners who will be running without crew, and runners bringing their entire families to cheer them on.

Want to meet all of our awesome Orcas 100 runners? Here they are!

We can't wait to see how this group of inspiring and stalwart athletes fares on Friday and Saturday. We know it's going to be a grand adventure and a memorable weekend, no matter what, and that's what we're most excited about. WHALE-SIZED THANKS to everyone who had a hand in making this race possible. You know who you are, and we love you all.

 a note about live-tracking & race updates: 

We've got an Orcas 100 Facebook album already created, right here. And we'll be posting photo updates there throughout the weekend, as well as on Instagram (@rainshadowrunning), and Twitter (@rainshadowrun). 

We'll also be updating this Orcas 100 FB post throughout race-weekend.

Cell service is notoriously terrible in Moran State Park and at the start/finish at Camp Moran, but we'll be doing our very best to get some consistently updated live-tracking going for everyone following along from home. 

The best place to stay apprised of how the race is going will be Twitter, so follow @RainshadowRun if you don't already, and the #Orcas100 hashtags both there and on Instagram, and you'll be instantly looped in to all the social media posts about the race. 

We'll also be doing our best to post live updates via Mt. Constitution, and eventually runners' splits via all the aid stations, which you'll be able to keep tabs on via UltraSignup, right here. 

Almost time to get this party officially started!