12/27/2025
Boxing Day Race Instructions:
Happy Holidays and thank you for joining us at the Boxing Day Dash run! A reminder that this race has an optional White Elephant Gift Exchange.. to participate, simply bring an gift you wish to give away, and place it in the pile, and at the completion of your race, pick a random package for yourself!
Event info:
The race will begin and end at the East Puyallup Trailhead (Foothills Trail) in Puyallup, WA.
The East Puyallup Trailhead for the Foothills Trail is located at
13810 80th Street E, Puyallup, WA 98372, a key access point near the VanLierop Bulb Farm, offering parking, restrooms, and trail connections towards Orting and Buckley.
Directions:
- From Hwy 410/SR 167, take the SR 162 exit towards Orting.
- Head south on SR 162 (Valley Avenue E) for about half a mile.
- Turn right onto 80th Street E; the trailhead is about a mile down on your right.
This trailhead has 1 restroom available, but there is an additional Porta-Potty available at the nearby playground across the street! Additionally, there is a restroom on course, at our far aid station.
Start times:
Early Start: 7:15am (Available for anyone who wishes extra time for ALL distances)
All races will begin at 8:00am, with rolling starts available for those who might be late or want to start in smaller groups!
Please arrive up to 15-30 minutes before you want to run, allowing us time to issue bibs, give any instructions, etc. As soon as we have a group ready to launch, we will release that group and start building the next group. Remember that we are still exercising covid safety, so only runners in a waiting group can be in the race start area, and should distance as appropriate.
Race Courses:
Caution: This course will cross two fairly busy roads, Pioneer Way E and Military Road E, so please use caution when crossing! There will be additional crossings of streets into neighborhoods that will also require being aware, so just take your time, watch your surroundings and be safe!
Marathon Course: The marathon course will be a double out and back of the half marathon course. This is simply due to logistics of ensuring adequate aid for our runners, as well as providing restroom facilities, etc. Runners will head towards Orting, crossing two major intersections on the course, Pioneer Way E and Military Road E on the way into Orting. They will pass the aid station at McMillin (mile 4.5 approx) and continue toward Orting, following the Foothills trail until the edge of the Whitehawk neighborhood and edge of Orting Middle school, following the trail toward the parking lots for the school, turning after the 2nd parking lot entrance and following the outer sidewalk back to Foothills Trail, then back to the race start. They will then repeat this course to complete a marathon distance.
Half Course: Runners will head towards Orting, crossing two major intersections on the course, E Pioneer and Military on the way into Orting. They will pass the aid station at mile 4.5 (approx) and continue toward Orting, following the Foothills trail until the edge of the Whitehawk neighborhood and edge of Orting Middle school, following the trail toward the parking lots for the school, turning after the 2nd parking lot entrance and following the outer sidewalk back to Foothills Trail, then back to the race start.
5k Course: Runners will head 1.55 miles towards Orting, turning at a marked point on the trail.
10k Course: Runners in the 10k course will head out from trailhead, heading towards Orting for 3.1 miles, crossing Pioneer Way E and Military Road E, turning just a bit less than a half mile past Military.
Aid Stations:
The Start/Finish area will have water, gels and other snacks, and an aid station will be posted at
Military Road E for 10k, Half and Marathon runners, as well as an aid station at McMillin Trailhead for our Half Marathon and Marathon runners. This aid stations will include snacks, gels, water and Gatorade type drinks, and a restroom available at McMillin!
