Pacific Crest Sports Endurance Sports Festival starts out with the Pilot Butte Challenge

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Thursday night marked the start of the Pacific Crest Endurance Sports Festival.

The four-day series of races starts with the Pilot Butte Challenge, a one-mile sprint or run or walk up the 500-foot butte.

Saturday is full of runs: a marathon, a half marathon, a Deschutes Dash 10K, a Deschutes Dash 5K and a Kids Splash Pedal-N-Dash. 

Sunday has three multi-sport races, at three different experience levels: S triathlon, duathlon and aquabike race, at either a "Sprint," "Olympic" or "Beastman" distance.

Race Director Karissa Schoene said the “Beastman” race is one of the reasons this festival is so unique. 

"I think of Central Oregon as the hub for endurance sports, so to have that size of distance for a triathlon here is pretty impressive,” Schoene said Thursday. 

“It's not just all around the United States that come and join us. We have people from all around the world that come and join us. So it's a great impact for the community, the economic impact -- and then bringing people together to watch them better themselves is pretty awesome, to see them come across the finish line."

This is the 27th year of the Pacific Crest Endurance Sports Festival. It's only its second in Bend, moving from Sunriver two years ago.

Schoene says the event is still rebuilding, now that it's in Bend, and is looking for more local sponsors.