Gap2Gap assumes endurance-racing throne

YAKIMA, Wash. — The king is dead. Long live the new king.

With the demise of the venerable Valley of the Sun Triathlon after a 25-year run and a one-year hiatus that turned out to be permanent, the Gap2Gap Relay becomes the Valley’s most durable multi-stage endurance event.

And while the triathlon’s volunteer corps had steadily dwindled along with participation numbers, the Gap2Gap has seen its battalion of volunteers hold steady, while racer numbers — largely because of the booming success of the Junior Gap2Gap — have begun to climb back up after a few down years in the mid-2000s.

The junior race this year set an all-time record with 417 racers, a number bolstered by the new, youngest age group for 6- and 7-year-olds. And even in the shaky economic climate that permeated the first half of 2009 and forced some sponsors to pull out, Shields Bag and Printing stuck it out as title sponsor. Others, like Les Schwab Tires, maintained a sponsorship presence at slightly lower levels.

But there’s one thing the Gap2Gap has going for it that the Valley of the Sun did not: a deep volunteer pool that helps keep burnout to a minimum.

“We’ve had the cadre of long-term volunteers who have been with this race for 10 years,” said Yakima Greenway executive director Al Brown.

The total number of volunteers? “A couple hundred.”

Really? That many?

“Oh yeah, there’s that many,” he said. “You have that core group of about 25, they chair a leg or a stage, and they go out and recruit their own people — family, friends, church groups. A few come and go every year, but largely it’s the same folks.”

A strategy that has been particularly successful for the Gap2Gap is the way its organizers have created and expanded the event’s volunteer base essentially by partnering with local businesses and civic groups.

Gap2Gap senior race director Brian Fecht works for Shields Bag and Printing, where numerous employees volunteer to help out the race committee. The Moss Adams office in Yakima has routinely mined its employee base for volunteers, something Zirkle Fruit did this year in a big way. Windermere Real Estate volunteers oversaw the entire finish-line operation, and Sunrise Rotary members routinely recruit other members to volunteer.

“It’s worked out really well,” said Ronda Ide, a past president of the Yakima Greenway Foundation board who oversees the Gap2Gap weekend of activities.

“We’ve asked employers and we get a volunteer or two from that employer. We’ve got somebody on this board from Moss Adams, and they get people from there to come out and help. Zirkle was tremendous this year. Several of the gals from the YVCC women’s wrestling program came out and helped; the rugby team from Central Washington (University) took care of the kayak on the pond for the local kids, and people from the kayak club were actually in the pond assisting the kids.

“It’s just who you know.”