If you’re out and about in Poulsbo the morning of Sept. 23, you might see runners dressed in lederhosen going from beer pub to beer pub.
You’re not dreaming: It’s the 2017 Oktoberfest Poulsbo Beer Run.
The Poulsbo Beer Run is a memorable event that rocks the city twice a year — once in the spring around St. Patrick’s Day and once in the fall. The Sept. 23 event begins at 8 a.m. and the race commences at 8:45 a.m. Most runners will don their best Oktoberfest costumes.
The 3.6-mile run is limited to the first 750 runners who sign up. There will be a crowd of 150 participants at each of the five breweries. Runners can start at their favorite pub and chart their course, making sure to stop in at each of the five locations: Slippery Pig Brewery, Sound Brewery, Valhöll Brewing, Rainy Daze Brewing, and Envy Bar and Grill featuring Silver City Brewery.
The rules are simple. Enjoy a beer at each location and then run to the next stop along the way. Visit all five breweries and head back to your starting point to receive your sixth beer and finisher’s prize.
Are you a lightweight? Don’t worry; after all, 9 a.m. is pretty early to be downing beers. You don’t have to drink all the beers. Servings will be 7-8 ounces at each location, for a total of 56 ounces.
Organizers say, just drink what you are comfortable drinking, but it is recommended that you try some at each tasting room. You can ask the beer tender for a “short pour.”
You don’t have to run the entire course, either. One goal of the race to be active (walking is active) and enjoy tasting different Kitsap County beers.
And there’s no time limit for the run. You can take as long as you want to do the run, but volunteers generally leave about 11:30 a.m.
Because of the crowd, carpooling is highly recommended. Parking is as follows:
Rainy Daze (650 Bovela Lane): There is very little parking at Rainy Daze. You can park at Sound’s brewery (not the tasting room) or the former quilt shop next door. It is across Viking Avenue from Bovela Lane. Do not park at the strip mall on the corner.
Envy (19559 Viking Ave. NW): There is plenty of parking behind Envy. Please leave the spaces in front for their customers.
Sound Brewery’s Tasting Room (19815 Viking Ave. NW): You can park at ABRA Auto Body &Glass (19873 Viking Ave NW) next door to Sound’s tasting room.
Overflow for Rainy Daze, Envy, and Sound Brewery: You can park in Fishline’s parking lot (787 NW Liberty Road off Viking Avenue). It is located between Envy and Sound’s tasting room facing Viking Avenue.
Valhöll (18970 3rd Ave. NE) and Slippery Pig (18801 Front St. NE): You can park on Anderson Parkway behind the stores on Front Street.
Don’t forget to bring non-perishable food items for donation to North Kitsap Fishline, the local food bank. There will be bins at each location where you can drop off donations.
And now the back story:
“When it first started, we had an errand to run at Sound Brewery so we ran there,” Slippery Pig owner/head brewer Dave Lambert said. “Then we thought ‘Hey, we should run to Valhöll [and] see what’s going on there.’ ”
The Slippery Pig has been a part of Poulsbo since 2011, originally serving the community out of a barn on Slippery Pig Way off of Finn Hill Road, until the brewery moved to its current location on Front Street.
Shawna Lambert was a co-conspirator behind what became the event known lovingly as the “PBR.”
Her husband recalled:
“When we were running between breweries, my wife said, ‘I bet other people would like to do this. I bet they would pay to do it. All we have to find is a charity.’ ”
And so the PBR was born.
“I think we had 30 runners the first time,” Lambert said.
To get the word out, they hung up posters at the original three breweries involved. Lambert said the goal was to attract people who don’t normally go running, but who enjoy the experience of going to the local breweries.
“There are a lot of really fun runs that mostly attract runners,” he said. “We hoped our run would attract people who don’t run.”
Also in Poulsbo this weekend:
The Poulsbo Chris Craft Rendezvous, Sept. 22-24, at the Port of Poulsbo Marina, 18809 Front St. This is a celebration of everything Chris Craft. There will be coffee and donuts available Saturday and Sunday mornings, and a potluck Saturday evening. Enjoy what Poulsbo has to offer, or just hang around the eclectic collection of Chris-Crafts.
— Leslie Kelly is an editor with Kitsap News Group. Contact her at lkelly@soundpublishing.com.
