-
Runners cross the bridge on the final stretch of the running section, even a banana competed in the race.
-
On the final stretch of the race, runners ran along the river trail next to people watching the event.
-
Kayakers pass under the bridge at River Bend Park on their final stretch of the paddle section.
-
Rows of kayaks and other vessels were at the park where people went to pick them up for the paddle section.
-
Sponsors and vendors of the event set up at the park where people could go do things like spin wheels for prizes or sample different things like energy drinks and even Café Yumm.
-
The official finish line of the race, an exhausted runner crosses the line.
On May 17, the annual SELCO Pole Pedal Paddle race was held in Bend, Oregon. The race is a fundraiser for the Mt. Bachelor Sports Education Foundation and helps raise money for the junior athletes who are a part of the program.
The 2025 race consisted of an alpine ski section, nordic ski section, bike section, run section, paddle section, and finally a sprint section. The race starts at Mt. Bachelor where the alpine section begins with the racers riding the Pine Marten chair lift up and skiing down to red chair, once they get to the red chair they take their skis off and have to walk down to the 200 foot sprint back up to their gear, they then ski down to the nordic transition station.
At the nordic section, skiers go through a 3.7 mile flat course through Mt. Bachelor’s nordic center. The bike section is a 20 mile ride down back to Bend which finishes right before the Mt. Washington roundabout. Next, the run section is a 5.2 mile course starting at the Athletic Club of Bend, racers will run along the river trail until they reach Riverbend park where they will transition to the paddle section.
At the paddle section, racers have to go downstream for about 0.5 mile and then turn around and come back upstream for about a mile. Once they finish the paddle stretch, it is time for the racers to do their final length which is the sprint section. The final sprint is 0.4 mile from Farewell Bend Park to Riverbend Park where the finish is.
Throughout the race, participants switch between the different sections in that order. Over 5,000 participants competed in the race as an individual, a pair, or even as a team. There are around 100 different sub categories and sub divisions in the race, the top three people in those categories win one of the PPP mugs. Some of the categories include elite individuals, adaptive, non-binary, 12 and under, tandem, family pairs, business teams, family teams, and military teams.
The finish of the race was held at Riverbend Park, on 799 SW Columbia St. where hundreds of people came to support and cheer on their friends or loved ones. At the park, there were multiple sponsors which included: Mt. Bachelor, the Old Mill District, and PowderHouse.
On May 18, there was even a mini PPP where kids could compete in teams while completing a team challenge and then going through an obstacle course and running laps. Although there is no skiing, biking, or paddling in this race, kids still get the chance to participate in a team and compete.
A list of all of the results of the race can be seen on the PPP website. You can also see some of the creative team names that people came up with on the site as well, including team names like “Worst Pace Scenario”, “Jorts Illustrated”.
