RUN Wenatchee

Chy Mettler of East Wenatchee leads a pack of runners along the trail during the 2015 Red Devil Challenge Trail Runs south of Cashmere.

WENATCHEE — RunWenatchee announced today it will put on 10 running races and events in 2016 in Chelan County.

The running organization’s calendar includes four road races, five trail runs and a trail running film festival. People can register for the events by going to www.runwenatchee.com.

“With our road and trail runs, we have a great mix in store for runners and walkers in 2016, and a mix that truly showcases the beauty of the east slopes of the Cascades,” said Joel Rhyner, a founding member of RunWenatchee. “We’ve tinkered with a few of the events, but we are keeping what’s been successful in place.”

One of the runs — the March 12 O’Grady’s St. Paddy’s 5K in Leavenworth — is new. Sleeping Lady Mountain Resort has contracted with RunWenatchee to hold the Irish-themed event.

Other changes include moving the Horse Lake Trail Runs in the Wenatchee Foothills up a week to avoid a conflict with the Sunflower Trail Runs in the Methow Valley. Horse Lake also will now be held on a Sunday, rather than a Saturday. Meanwhile, the Oktoberfest Trail Runs in Leavenworth have been moved from a Sunday to a Saturday.

Here is the RunWenatchee line-up (in chronological order):

— Bundle-Up 5K, Jan. 23, downtown Wenatchee

— O’Grady’s St. Paddy’s 5K, March 13, Sleeping Lady Mountain Resort, Leavenworth

— Trails in Motion Film Festival, April (date and location TBA)

— Horse Lake Trail Runs, May 1, Horse Lake Reserve, Wenatchee Foothills

— Red Devil Challenge Trail Runs, May 22, Wenatchee National Forest, Cashmere

— River Run on the Fourth, July 4, Pybus Public Market, Wenatchee

— Lake Chelan Shore to Shore Marathon, Half-Marathon and 10K, Sept. 10, Manson

— Dark Side Festival Trail Run, Sept. 24, Mission Ridge Ski & Board Resort

— Oktoberfest Trail Runs, Oct. 15, Leavenworth Ski Hill

— Turkey on the Run, Nov. 24, Rotary Park, Wenatchee

RunWenatchee was founded in 2008 and is owned by Joel and Michele Rhyner and Steve Maher. Its first organized race was Turkey on the Run, which has since grown to be Wenatchee’s second largest road race behind just the Wenatchee Marathon.

Proceeds from each of the races are donated to local nonprofits and groups. In 2015, those included the Women’s Resource Center of NCW, Chelan-Douglas Land Trust, Chelan County Mountain Rescue, Columbia Valley Girls on the Run, Leavenworth Winter Sports Club, Leavenworth Junior Nordic Team, Wenatchee High School running teams, Lake Chelan Valley youth groups, and the Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance’s Central Washington chapter.

In addition to the official races, RunWenatchee holds a free weekly club run for the general public every Thursday night year-round on the Apple Capital Loop Trail. And during the warm weather months, it holds free track workouts at Wenatchee High School each Tuesday night.

RunWenatchee is currently spearheading a $23,000 fundraising drive to install the last eight mile-markers on the Apple Capital Loop Trail. The mile markers will benefit emergency responders and the local tourism industry.