Our 8th Annual Couve Clover Run on March 20th  is the FIRST LIVE event in 2022! We will sprinkle green glitter, there will be a leprechaun and a pot of gold, and best of all, YOU will be there with us!

There is a lot of important information in this email for you to review, especially for the rookies! We put the important information for everyone at the top so you veterans can focus there and if you’re a newbie, read the whole thing. It’s a long email, but we want to answer all your questions so you can enjoy a stress-free day. Sometime over the next week, grab a green tea, spinach smoothie, or green beer, take a seat, relax, review the material and start to get excited for the Couve Clover Run!

 Note – Tell all your favorite Lads & Lassies to hurry because registration fees increase Thursday, March 17th at midnight. The 5K (3 miles) option is manageable for everyone! Forward them this email and the link below, and you might just inspire them! Plus… the first 1500 to register, get the Couve Clover Run Gloves!! 

PACKET PICKUP:

Saturday, March 19th from 10 AM – 6 PM        

Foot Traffic Vancouver

305 SE Chkalov Dr., Vancouver, WA 98683

Sunday, March 20th from 7 AM – 9 AM      

Vancouver Waterfront Park

695 Waterfront Way, Vancouver, WA 98660

 

Please note – Lines tend to be longer for packet pick up on race morning, if possible, please come to Packet Pickup on Saturday to collect your race packets. If you need to pick up your race packet on race morning, please make sure to come early so you have enough time to park, pick up your packets and get ready for the race start. 

****NOTE: Now that USATF sanctions our events, athletes are required to pick up their own race packets. If you cannot make it to Packet Pickup, you can have someone else pick up your package, but you must sign and print this form and send it with them as well as a copy of your ID. This insurance requirement ensures athletes don’t give their Bib to someone else to race – an act strictly prohibited for safety reasons. 

**If you have registered someone else online, make sure they have signed the waiver in advance of picking up their packet. If you can’t sign the waiver online, please print this liability waiver, sign it and bring it with you to packet pick up. 

***Children under 18 cannot register themselves as they will need a parent to sign the waiver.

EVENT SITE:  The new home of Couve Clover Run is Vancouver’s Waterfront Park at 695 Waterfront Way, Vancouver, WA 98660. 

COSTUMES:  Bring out the green!  We will reward creativity with prizes for the best costumes! It makes it fun for everyone! We can’t wait to wear our best tutu and St. Paddy’s Day socks and Couve Clover Run event shirt!! 

PARKING: Parking in downtown Vancouver is free on weekends curbside, so park in any of the designated meter spots/city parking lots. There is plenty of parking along Waterfront Way at the paid parking lot. You may have to walk a few blocks, but consider it your warm-up. Better yet, carpool with friends or take the Bus with C-Tran. 

 COURSE: We believe this is one of the prettiest courses in the Northwest! We’ve designed the course to take you through Vancouver’s most scenic areas, which highlights our wonderful community. The course is mainly flat. There will be a few lead cyclists and plenty of course marshals and signage to assure you know exactly where you are going. There are a few sections that are tight and will require you to run both directions past each other, be sure to stay to the right to avoid collisions. Please also listen to the course marshals – they are there for your safety. When on any roadway, be sure to watch for cars. And whenever you have the option, use the sidewalks/paths. We’ll also have a designated ‘sweeper’ to be the last walker (so you don’t have to worry about being last). The courses will be marked at each mile. For those of you who would like to study the course in detail, you can click on the links below. 

Couve Clover Course Details

Water stations: We Suggest you carry your own water.  There will be water stations available once for 3 Mile athletes, 2x for our 7 Mile athletes, and 3x for our 10 Mile athletes. Water, Gatorade, PowerBar Gels, and hand sanitizer will be available at every Water Station. ** You will also have the opportunity to fill your own handheld water bottle with the assistance of the Water Station Volunteers. 

This is a good link to share with your supporters so they know the course and can plan out the best cheering locations.  Good spots for your loved ones are Vancouver Waterfront, Beaches Restaurant (for 7 and 10 milers), Marine Park Area (for 10 Milers), the new waterfront development area for all athletes, and of course, the finish line! Remind them to be careful if they are going to drive along the course to cheer you on at various locations.  Also, remind them to make awesome signs for you, bring their cowbells to keep your energy up, and have flowers for the finish line!  Don’t assume they know to do this – sometimes you’ve got to give the family a little direction!

Please note, however, you will need to pay attention and follow the instructions, so you don’t miss your split! Note: please complete the course for the event you registered for – or let us know before the race at Packet Pickup if you want to change distances! Otherwise, it significantly affects result reports for everyone!

TIMING: All Runners will wear a Bib that includes a Disposable Chip. Just be sure to wear your Bib Number on the front of your shirt/jacket. You will also notice that you have Tabs on your Bib for a complimentary 10% off from Foot Traffic, Beverage Ticket for Crux Fermentation and NOMO, Big Town Hero ticket for your sandwich, and Twigs Bistro ticket for your soup in the food lines.

RESULTS: 

Live Event: Cascadia Sports Timing will be timing our Live event. You will be able to find results post-event here. If you click on your name, you will be able to view a video of you crossing the finish line and view and print a Finishers’ Certificate that will list your time, pace, and placement. If there are any issues with your results, please email registration@whyracingevents.com immediately to correct them

before the Awards Ceremony. 

Virtual Event: Results will be available for posting starting on March 14th through March 21st at midnight.  Please post your results for the virtual events here: 

https://whyracingevents.com/couve-clover-run/results-photos/

LOST & FOUND: Any unmarked equipment will be returned to the Finish Line Area during the event. After the event, we will take this to the Why Racing warehouse; please contact us after the event if you have any lost items. Please come to the event with all personal belongings well marked with your name.

GEAR CHECK: We suggest you lock up all valuables in your vehicles; however, we will offer a Gear Check at the start/finish area.  

SHIRT SWAP: We hope you like your Couve Clover T-shirt and will wear it as a  reminder of your accomplishment. If the size of the shirt you ordered does not fit, we will be hosting a ‘Shirt Swap” after the event in the  Information/Packet Pickup area. Please do not wear shirts you wish to swap; shirts worn during the event are not exchangeable. We cannot guarantee you will be able to switch since it will depend on leftover shirts, but we will do our best to accommodate your request. 

POST-RACE FESTIVITIES:

• Enjoy the Street Party festivities of our finish line expo, music, merchants, beverage garden, a food tent, and comradery. 

• • RACE PHOTOS:  Watch for the cameras en route courtesy of IQ Credit Union and give us a big, cheesy smile! Thanks to IQ Credit Union, all your event photos will be FREE!  How cool is that?! Be sure to have your Bib on the front of your shirt/jacket so you can easily find your photos and start thinking of a cool, green, festive costume now so your photos look AWESOME! If you give us an awesome pose, you just might be our poster child next year! Once photos are available, they will be posted here. Be sure to share and use #WHYracing or #CouveCloverRun so we can add to our album and so you can be entered to win some really cool prizes.

• • We love to see your photos!  If you take pics and videos of your post-race festivities, please add them to our Couve Clover Photo album!
  • • https://whyracingevents.com/couve-clover-run/results-photos

AWARDS: For all you speedsters, here’s what we’ve got:

• Fun “LUCKY” Awards and Champion Medal holders for the Top 3 Overall Male & Female and Masters Champion for all distances. 

Note: We will not be able to provide awards for walkers due to the inability to control adherence to walking only during the event. 

COURSE RECORDS: Can anyone beat this? We might just have a Lucky Prize for you if you do!

3 Mile:

Robert McLauchlan 15:22.3

Francine Neilampa 18:25  

7 Mile:

Willy Sayers – 42:42

Allison Wrightson 46:33.7

10 Mile:

Jason Griffiths 55:20.6

Ashley Althaus 1:07:34

 

VOLUNTEERS:  We are close to 100% capacity for volunteers! We could use a few more. Big thanks to all of our amazing volunteers! If you have family or friends who are coming to support you and want to volunteer, email Brock@whyracingevents.com  if they would like to help out.  Remember, there’s no way we could put on this event without the help and support of our volunteer team. Many have dedicated hours and hours of time to this event. So please be extra nice to our course marshals, water station crew, Flaggers, and anyone helping out. Thank them as often as possible because we want them to all come back next year!

PARTNERS/SPONSORS: There is absolutely no way we could have pulled this event together without the support from our Sponsors. 

PARTNERS

Thank you to our Partners who support our WHY Racing events year-round!

PEACEHEALTH FOOT * TRAFFIC IQ * CREDIT UNION      

MCCORD’S VANCOUVER TOYOTA*CORWIN

VISIT CENTRAL OREGON* WHY BAR 

NORTHWEST PERSONAL TRAINING

SPONSORS

Thank you to our sponsors who support Couve Clover Run

Waste Connections* Franz Bakery* PowerBarSport* Crux Fermentation Project * NOMO* XTERRA Wetsuits*Cascade Sotherby’s* Twigs Bistro * Big Town Hero

AMR* Whisper Running

 

Special Thanks

City of Vancouver, Fort Vancouver National Parks, Clark County Parks & Recreation and the Port of Vancouver

The best way to thank these companies is to do business with them because you appreciate the support they give to athletes like YOU and all the schools, clubs, and non-profits including SHARE and the Foundation for Public Schools who will benefit from the event.

BENEFICIARIES:    SHARE and the Foundation for Public Schools

Why Racing Events Inc. is proud to support High School Sports programs and various local non-profits. Last two years alone, we were able to raise over $1,550,000 for various local clubs, teams, and nonprofits. Some of the programs we support rely completely on our donations for their yearly funding. We want to thank all of you for participating in this event allowing us the opportunity to extend this support to our community.

FACEBOOK: Can we be friends?!  If you haven’t yet, please like our Why Racing Events Facebook pages for all event photos, videos, updates, tips, and inspiration. 

https://www.facebook.com/WhyRacingEvents/

Also, please join the Couve Clover Event Page because this is where we will also any last-minute updates.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR OUR ROOKIES:  If you’re new to racing, you probably have questions about what to wear and what to eat before and during the event. We’ve pulled together some information and instructions that should help assure you have a great race.

Read Important Information for our Rookies here

REMEMBER YOUR WHY: You are all racing for different reasons. Some of you are super competitive and are racing to win overall or in your age group or division. Some of you will just be ecstatic to cross the finish. Some of you are racing to reach for your personal best or to get into great shape. Some of you race to be able to eat whatever you want. Some of you do it for energy, to help you look and feel better, some do it for fun or to meet new people. Some of you do it so you can have a beer or a glass of wine. Regardless of your WHY, let us congratulate you on pushing your limits, and by doing so remember that you will inspire so many others! One of the best things you can do immediately to help support running and your fellow athletes of all ages, fitness levels, shapes, sizes, and abilities, is to offer lots of support and praise to each other on race day. As you pass someone, tell them how great they’re doing! And as you’re getting passed, tell them how strong they look. Cheer each other on, it makes the time pass by quickly and empowers you and everyone else on the course! Remember though, If they Catch you, they can Pinch you! 

Lastly, I’d like to give a big shout-out to our team at Why Racing Events for working so hard as a team to pull this event off! We get to RACE together! Can you feel our excitement? 

Thank you so much for participating in our 8th Annual Couve Clover Run and helping this event become our own mini “Shamrock Run” here in the Couve and an annual tradition for our community! Have fun, stay safe and enjoy the entire experience!

 

Karissa & Rod Schoene & the entire Why Racing Team

 

Ps.  Forward your favorites Lads & Lassies https://couvecloverrun.raceroster.com/ and maybe you’ll inspire them to participate! You don’t want them to miss out on all the IRISH Shenanigans!