Runners began crossing the finish line Saturday morning after a 216.6-mile race that took a full day to complete.

For one of the teams, the running of the Cascade Lakes Relay has been an annual tradition going back to 2008. The team has not missed a chance to make a trip to Central Oregon to compete in one of the state’s longest relays.

The 2023 edition of the Cascade Lakes Relay was the 16th time Brian Franssen and his running team from Eugene competed in the event. The 55-year-old has seen the race evolve, shifting away from an off-road race over the years. He’s also seen the finish line move from Summit High School to Riverbend Park.

“It’s an incredible experience,” Franssen said. “Running is such an individual sport, and one time a year we come together for this. It gives us something to focus on. This makes it a team sport. It’s a special event. We look forward to it every year.”

“It is the one race we do together each year,” added teammate Luke Puskedra. “It’s the carrot that keeps us training.”

Runners began the lengthy relay race on Friday morning at Diamond Lake Resort, ran through the Cascade Mountains, around Mount Bachelor and crossed the finish line Saturday at Riverbend Park in Bend.

More than 150 teams competed in the three events that the relay held during the two days: the 12-person, 36-leg, 216.6-mile run; the 8- to 12-person, 24-leg, 124-mile run; and the 94-mile walk relay.

Franssen estimates the average age of the 12-person Wolfpack team is “close to 50,” but that does not stop them from trying to beat younger teams in the field.

“We have focus and that is to do well and to give guys half our age a run for their money,” he said. “We like pushing ourselves to the point of what we like to call ‘being on death’s door.’ It is fun once a year to push yourself to your limits.”

The Wolfpack takes the race very seriously. Franssen said he has 45 pages of notes from the years the team has run the race, trying to put members on the right legs to maximize their results.

Puskedra ran distance at the University of Oregon and finished fourth in the marathon at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials in 2016, making him an alternate on the Rio de Janeiro Olympic team.

For a quarter century, running has been like a job for Puskedra, with a very specific pre-race routine that consists of getting to the race two days prior to the start, eating four hours before a race and warming up an hour before running.

Running the Cascade Lakes Relay helped Puskedra find a different joy in the sport. “Running the Cascade Relays sparked energy to start running on more of a fun basis,” he said. “It’s a different perspective. With these guys, you show up and run and it’s a fun community.”

The Wolfpack team finished fourth overall (third in the open-mixed division), crossing the finish line in exactly 25 hours and 54 minutes. Finishing more than three hours ahead of the rest of the field was Fellowship of the Run, which completed the race in 22:02:52 hours. Godo was the open-mixed winner, finishing in 25:18:33 hours, and Cascades Lakes finished third overall in 25:42:52.

“We are happy with our results,” Franssen said. “This is an incredible experience, if running is what you enjoy doing.”

“It’s an incredible experience. Running is such an individual sport, and one time a year we come together for this. It gives us something to focus on. This makes it a team sport. It’s a special event. We look forward to it every year.”

— Brian Franssen, of Eugene, on participating in the Cascade Lakes Relay