Pace, Pedal, Paddle!

The 50th Anniversary of the Pole Pedal Paddle proved to be an unforgettable one with a new race course, crazy weather conditions, and incredible competition! Kendall Central Oregon was a proud Major Sponsor of the event and thrilled to have five teams take on the challenge. The Pole Pedal Paddle, turned into Pace, Pedal, Paddle with additional running legs, is Mt. Bachelor Education Foundation’s largest annual fundraiser to support youth athletes in Central Oregon.

Race day started at Mt. Bachelor, where the staff & volunteers worked tirelessly to clear the running and bike courses due to unexpected snowfall overnight. Despite some chilly wind and enough snow to question delayed start times, the Mt. Bachelor team got the course all cleared for the 1500 competitors who participated in this year’s event. At the mountain, teams, individuals, and pairs completed a mountain run with significant elevation gain, a fun run with challenging terrain, and transitioned to the 20-mile bike finishing at the Athletic Club of Bend. From there, participants completed a 5-mile run along the river trail before jumping into a kayak or paddle board. A half mile sprint brought competitors to the finish line, where their efforts were celebrated at the vendor expo area.

We are beyond proud of our five teams that participated in the business category, each with four to six racers on each team that completed different legs of the race. A special shoutout to our Toyota (“Kaizen”) team that placed 2nd in the Business Category and brought home the infamous PPP mugs! A huge congratulations to our other four teams for rocking the race and giving their all on the course: The Six Rings, Prestige Worldwide, Quick Finishers, and the Young & Breathless.

On behalf of Kendall Auto Group, thank you to MBSEF, Mt. Bachelor, and the hundreds of volunteers that made the 50th Pole Pedal Paddle a huge success! We can’t wait to start training for next year, snow or not, see you there!