The Race to Robie Creek
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The Race to Robie Creek returns to Boise in April, and this President’s Day (Monday, February 17) is your chance to get in on the fun. Billed as “the toughest race in the Northwest," it’s a super challenging yet cherished Boise event that's back again for the 48th time. Every third Saturday in April, more than 2,000 people come together to run, jog, and walk 13.1 miles through the Boise foothills. When I say through, I mean more like up and up and up a road that seems like it never ends and keeps getting more steep (because it is), then when you finally reach the top, you go right back down the other side. Beginning at high noon, participants start at Fort Boise (elevation 2725’) and run up Reserve Street and Shaw Mountain Road, through the Table Rock area neighborhoods to where the pavement ends. They run up and up the long and winding dirt road through Rocky Canyon, all the way up to Aldape Summit (elevation 4797’), then down the other side for a few more miles until they finally come to a stop at Robie Creek Campground (elevation 3065’) by Lucky Peak Reservoir.
Along the way, spectators cheer on the runners. There were around 700 spectators for the 2019 race, though spectators have dwindled since covid. Neighbors blast the Rocky theme song and cheer from their front yards. Friends and families line the roads with signs, cheering and ringing cowbells. There used to be a “Table of Temptation” located at approximately mile 8, where runners could grab a donut, candy, soda, beer, or take a tequila shot. There’s other aid stations along the way too, serving water and fruit. And there’s the after party. Over the years, runners have come to look forward to the after party – and not just because they are done running. The after party is a full-on celebration complete with food, drinks, live music, dancing, and new friends. But all in all, the race is really hard. Yes, it’s beautiful and scenic and a social event and special to many people – but it’s very difficult. Even for people who have run it for multiple years in a row or run regularly throughout the year. It’s a tough run. And that’s part of what keeps people coming back for more. The beginningAccording to race organizers, the roots of the Race to Robie Creek date back to August 16, 1975. At 6:30pm, Boise runner Jon Robertson and 24 other participants of the first “Idaho Summer Road Racing Championships” took off on foot from Fort Boise. They ran up Rocky Canyon, over Aldape Summit and down to Robie Creek Campground. Don Flaten of Boise won the race in one hour, 20 minutes and Cindy Partridge of Moscow won the women’s division in 2 hours, 2 minutes. The race was the birthplace of what would eventually become the Race to Robie Creek and the Rocky Canyon Sail Toads, (which has a whole backstory of its own).
Four years later, on April 28, 1979, the Rocky Canyon Sail Toads re-organized the race as The Race to Robie Creek – the Nautilus-Chase Half Marathon Classic. 171 people participated this time. John Chase of Soda Springs set a new record, finishing in one hour, 17 minutes, 52 seconds. The women’s winner was Ellen Lyons, a junior at Bishop Kelly who finished in one hour, 26 minutes, 32 seconds. A few hours prior to the Race to Robie, she had run the second-fastest one-mile and two-mile sprints in state school history at an invitational meet in Caldwell. Impressive.
The Idaho Statesman reported on the race, saying that few of the 171 competitors were concerned with setting records or finishing in a certain time, as most found it a victory just to have completed the course. One competitor reportedly told his friend before the start at Fort Boise Park, “I’ll either see you at home or St. Luke’s.” By the next year, 1980, the event had picked up steam and a fair share of media coverage. The next few years would continue to gain interest, yet the challenge of the course would remain. The next 40 yearsOver the next four decades, the Race to Robie Creek grew in popularity. Each year, more and more people would return to run again alongside first-timers giving the course a try. By 1990, nearly 2,000 people participated in the Race to Robie creek and by the 2000s, they began capping the race at about 2,400 participants. The race organizers choose a new start theme for the race every year. There have been all kinds (forty years-worth) of themes. Runners and spectators embrace the theme and often dress the part. In 1980 the theme was Deer Friends. The poster shows a doodle-style scene of a pack of runners with deer heads and human bodies, a handwritten note, “Deer friends, hope to see you on the hill. Sincerely, Rocky Canyon Sail Toads.”
There was Fur Will Fly in 1987, a comical play on the tortoise and the hare. She’s A Screamer in 1988 (that design lol). The Shadow in 1991 – “Who knows what evil lurks at the heights of Aldape Summit!”
Mother Earth was the theme in 1993. Grateful Dead in 1996 – a long strange trip, indeed. There was Redneck Robie in 2001. A Big Ass Easter Egg Hunt in 2003. Roaring Back Robie in 2022– a play on the Roaring 20s. Staying Alive in 2023. Día de Los Muertos in 2024 to honor Jon, the original race founder and other original Sail Toads who have passed.
Records have been set and broken on this course numerous times. The current historic record holders are Phil Stephenson, who finished the course in one hour, 13 minutes, six seconds in 1984, and Cori Mooney, who ran it in one hour, 23 minutes, 52 seconds in 1998. The race introduced chip timing in 1999. Since then, the overall record holders with chipped timing are Markus Geiger with one hour, 14 minutes, 17 seconds in 2013, and Megan Lacy in one hour, 25 minutes, 17 seconds in 2019. More than records and winners, the race has become a yearly catalyst for community connection. There is something really magical about having a shared experience, particularly one that is challenging, with other people.
“I think that's what keeps me coming back is, you know, the community is really strong here,” said Kevin Richert, who has been running Robie since 2011. “Whether you can run it fast or slow or awkward – I think everybody realizes that this is a tough thing to do. There's a lot of respect and a lot of camaraderie.” Race to RememberOne particular race stands out to Richert – the Race to Robie Creek in 2013. The Saturday before that race, two people bombed the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing three people and injuring hundreds. “It was such a rough week for everybody, but it was rough for runners because, you know, I think we all kind of felt like something was… was violated there,” he said. The finish line is where so many people are at a race – family and friends of runners, runners themselves who have finished and are cheering on other runners. It’s the goal for every participant. The finish line of any race is sacred. And that day, it was violated in an atrocious way. “I just felt like that Saturday, after all that had happened and watching it all on cable TV, that that was where I needed to be that Saturday, you know? I needed to be around other runners,” said Richert. “I really felt like, even more so that day, that we were together as a community.” Crossing the finish line of Robie Creek has held special meaning for many at nearly every race since the beginning. Everyone has a different reason why they run it, and few are to try and win it. The 48th Race to Robie CreekThe next race will be held on Saturday, April 19, 2025. If you’d like to participate, your first challenge is getting signed up. Registration opens on President's Day, Monday, February 17, 2025, at High Noon (12pm MT). If you really want to run it, don’t be late. Registration will sell out. It always does. Last year it sold out in just 30 minutes. Here’s what you need to know:
Once you are signed up, you can start training for the race... or just wing it. It's the challenge and the community that make Robie stand out from others. Take it from Richert, a Robie Creek veteran: “It's a running cliche but just do your thing. Don't worry about what other people are doing, because ultimately we're all in this thing together. It doesn't matter if you're fast or slow. You're not really competing against other people as much as you're competing against that course.”
Thanks for reading! With love from Boise, Marissa
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From Boise
Every Tuesday, read a story about a person, place, piece of Boise history, or local happening. Every Thursday, get a huge list of things to do over the weekend. No news, no politics - just the fun stuff.