Every December/January, the Palouse Road Runners hosts two free “ultra” marathons we affectionately title the Pullman Winter Ultras. It’s a simple and relatively hands-off premise: you sign up for free and run anywhere between 1-4 eight-mile laps around town, no matter the weather.

And the weather in Pullman this time of year can be heinous.

I race-directed this event but because it was minimal support, I basically hung out at a coffee shop all day and gave some check-in props to runners as they came by every hour or so.

This was my first year directing the thing and we had a solid turnout of about 30 participants. The weather was relatively prime until rain started at around hour five. Everyone had a solid time and I’m stoked to see who returns for the January edition.