Couve Clover Run opens Clark County’s busy running season

Once you start running this Sunday, you never really need to stop. Just don different decorations for each upcoming outing as you keep going and going.

For the March 26 Couve Clover Run, o’ course, your outfit should display plenty of green. Previous years have seen racers sporting emerald face paint, tutus, wigs, deeley boppers and even whole-body suits. Green makes you go faster, you know. Bonus points if you spot gold along the way.

The Couve Clover Run, with 3-, 7- and 10-mile course options that show off the scenic Vancouver waterfront and historic spots like Fort Vancouver and Esther Short Park, marks the opening of Clark County’s extremely busy running season. At last count, The Columbian counted an impressive 20 local events, March through November, that aim to get you onto your feet and covering some ground. (Dressing up like a flower in April, a dog in May and Bigfoot in June is encouraged but not mandatory.)

But if running hurts too much — your knees, back, feet, everything — rest assured, the real point here isn’t beating the competition. The point is enjoying camaraderie and our gorgeous outdoors while burning calories, trimming fat, building muscle and generally transforming yourself into a fitter being than you were before.

If you need to walk, walk. If you want to run, run. However you move forward, you’re already a winner.

Blooms and beers

Warning: Abundant colors and sweet fragrances may intoxicate runners during Blooms to Brews, a Woodland-area outing set for April 8 and 9. A full marathon, a four-person marathon relay, a half-marathon and a 10K run/walk all begin early on April 9, sending participants alongside the Hulda Klager Lilac Gardens first, and then later past the Holland America Bulb Farm’s tulip fields. When you’re done, a free microbrew will make your run memories seem even more beautifully springlike, if possible.

Kids won’t get beer as a reward for achieving greatness the day before, but they’re used to that. Saturday morning is the Kids’ Bloomathon, following a 1-mile wood-chip trail around Woodland High School that winds up inside the school stadium — where frenzied fans will cheer from the stands while 5- to 13-year-olds cross the finish line. More kid activities will be provided by the YMCA.

Dogs won’t get beer either, but they are the stars of the Southwest Washington Humane Society’s May 6 Walk/Run for the Animals. Organizers predict that about 1,000 eager canines will pull 2,000 or so humans around on leashes during two dog-friendly events, a 3-mile walk along the Columbia River or a 5K timed run around the Fort Vancouver grounds.

Adult humans do get beer in the end: two of them, in the Ghost Runners beer garden.

Buddies and Bigfoot

Most of these runs are at least nominally charitable — sharing a slice of your registration dollars with good causes and local nonprofit organizations. For example, Blooms to Brews benefits a planned park and sports complex in Woodland, and Why Racing’s Couve Clover Run benefits Share, Boys & Girls Clubs of Southwest Washington, and others.

Northwest Battle Buddies, a Battle Ground nonprofit that matches trained service dogs with combat veterans, is the beneficiary of the Run to Remember on May 27; two days later, the Race to Remember is all about benefiting military veterans themselves, and their families and children. (A legal tussle between these two, over their similar-sounding names, has been languishing in court since last year. The Race to Remember is a nonprofit organization; Why Racing, while generating money for charities during the Run to Remember and several other events, is a for-profit company.)

Meanwhile, Yacolt’s annual summer run — on June 24, featuring a 5K walk, a 10K run and a kids’ fun run — is not charitable but rather, you might say, mythological. It’s called the Bigfoot Fun Run, and the hairy local legend is always on hand to join the fun.

If you really do see Bigfoot, run for it!