There was a recent article in Time Magazine called ‘Just Brew It‘ about the new trend of pairing craft beer with more than food – joining the love of beer with the love of the outdoors and activities like cycling, running and rafting (our friends at Southern Oregon Brewing in Medford, OR were mentioned in the article for a local rafting & beer tasting package). We couldn’t agree more, and we’re bottling up our enthusiasm for a few of our favorite upcoming athletic events in Southern Oregon. Here’s what’s on our radar for summer races that Standing Stone participates in and sponsors every year, and we encourage you to get involved, too!

Mt Ashland Hillclimb Run, August 10th: This 13.3-mile race climbs over 5,600 feet in altitude, placing finishers at the summit of Mt. Ashland. We’re amazed with the athletes who complete this hot-weather feat, so much that we serve free beer at the top for all the racers! In fact, we engrave the names of each year’s male and female winners on a commemorative trophy keg to be served from at the finish line and then displayed at Standing Stone year-round. We also throw in $10 gift certificates so the runners can come in and relax with a brew and food when they return to Ashland’s 1,900’ altitude.

Registration is closed as this race is already completely sold out, but you can always join us in cheering on the racers (including three Standing Stone runners) at the lodge on Mt. Ashland, and motivate yourself to attempt this challenging race in 2014!

Siskiyou Challenge Relay Race, September 28th: This six-leg, multi-sport relay is in its fourth year and we’ve been at the finish line serving food and beer at every one! We also have several Standing Stone employee teams participate each year, with last year marking a new personal record for us with four teams consisting of 24 total coworkers. We particularly love this race because it mixes exercise with tons of fun, and it supports one of our favorite local organizations, Rogue Valley Farm to School. Festivities start and end at ScienceWorks museum here in Ashland, and there will be vendors, live music, food and brews for all the finishers. Registration is now open, so gather your team of runners, bikers and kayakers today!

(By the way, we always have an in-house costume contest for our racers at the Siskiyou Challenge, and organizers encourage you to have fun with your team uniforms, too! You can see our blog post from last year with photos of all our teams for some fun inspiration.)

We hope to see you at both of these awesome Rogue Valley events, and encourage you to get involved with other athletic events in your area. We agree that ‘just brew it’ is a great theme for summertime fun – afterall, what better way to reward yourself after outdoor activities than with a cold beer?