Railroad Bridge Run

05/06/2026

online presents

Railroad Bridge 5k &10k

by Karl Johnson

Sequim – 4/25

April has sure been a weird month for weather here in the PNW. We’ve had winter, spring, summer and fall all in the same week. Today was a glorious day for a race. Slightly cool at the start but the sun was shining bright without getting too hot.

This was my first time running this event in person. I did the virtual race back during the lockdown of 2020. I was a bit concerned seeing the start on the narrow bridge and the large crowd of runners lining up on the two paths leading up to it. I had visions of 2000 runners being let loose on a course all at once creating a lot of congestion (I’m looking at you Turkey Trot!). Fortunately, that was not the case here.

The course marshal had the speedier runners gather up front. After the singing of the National Anthem (a very welcome and nice touch), they started the event, having people go in groups, waiting for the previous group to cross the bridge before sending off the next group. This made for a much less congested course and eliminated having to dodge around other runners/walkers as you built up to race pace.

The course is a simple out and back, with both the 5k and 10k on the same path. There were aid stations available at the turnarounds with Gatorade and water. There were marshals and police monitoring the few places where the path crossed streets. It was also a very flat course, perfect for getting a PB. For me, I was happy to be able to run the entire course without walking, taking short breaks at the aid stations to hydrate a bit.

Mark LaGioia was the first male overall and first Silver Strider to cross the finish line in the 5k with a time of 20:46. Nancy Potts was the first female Silver Strider with a time of 28:04. Michael Higuera was the first male Silver Strider in the 10k with a time of 40:46. Jennifer Mathews was the first female Silver Strider with a time of 47:24. In all, nearly 40% of the runners were Silver Striders, 155 out of 400 in the 5k and 75 out of 203 in the 10k. Well done, Silver Striders!

Lunch afterwards was held at Stymie’s Bar and Grill on a local golf course.