Historical Information
Over 48,000 runners have competed in the Three Course Challenge since it began in 1990. In that time over 250 high schools from Oregon, Washington, California, Idaho, Hawaii, and Tennessee have attended the meet.
Our biggest meet was in 2012 with 2.834 finishers. The largest girls race was on the easy course in 2014 with 395 athletes, for the boys it was 555 finishers on the moderate course in 2012.
Year by year data is provided in the two links below. The first link addresses finisher per course by year and the second link shows schools and years they attended.
Here is a essay written by Summer Spell, one of Coach Branson's former students in 2014:
History of The Three Course Challenge
Most people in Seaside have been to, or at least heard of the Three Course
Challenge. For those who haven’t, it’s a cross country meet that takes place annually at
Camp Rilea.
It gets its name from the three separate courses, easy, medium and hard, that
runners can choose from. Well, not really choose, it’s more up to fate. Before the meet,
coaches from each team are given a canister of white, blue and red poker chips. Each
runner draws a token and that decides which course they run.Drawing a white token
means you run the easy course, blue is for medium, and red is for hard. {Note from meet director: we no longer use this method at the meet due to new timing requirements with chip timing. Coaches could still continue this tradition on their own but would need to do it before registration closes}
Three Course Challenge was formed by Mr. Neil Branson, the Seaside High School cross
country coach. In 1990, Mr. Branson and his assistant coach Mr. Gene Gilbertson
decided they wanted to create a meet that would suit different fitness levels. In the
beginning of a cross country season all the runners on a team are at different levels.
Some runners work out over the summer, some don’t and some do both. This makes
races in the beginning of the season too easy for some but mostly too hard for others. In
the Three Course Challenge, coaches can assign runners to the races suitable for
them. The easy course winds through the grassy hills of Camp Rilea. Running the
medium trail takes you through steeper grass hills and a few sand dunes. On the hard
course, runners are pushed to the limits as they trek through sand, hack their way
through forests, climb over fallen trees, crawl up almost vertical hills and wade through
mud pits.
Yes, mud pits. One year it rained so hard before the meet that part of the course was
flooded. When Mr. Gilbertson asked Mr. Branson what they should do, he said “run
them through it”, so they did. The next year when the course was dry, so many people
were disappointed that the guys at Camp Rilea trucked in gallons of water the following
year....and the seven years after that. The mud pits have been there ever since. The
whole token drawing thing started when one year Mr. Branson decided that all of his
runners were capable of running any course. They drew tokens and the other coaches
loved the idea. It’s been a part of the meet ever since. Of course, coaches can still
assign appropriate courses to runners if they feel the need. The easy course is a great
first course for beginners.
The number of teams and runners at the meet has increased a huge amount
over the years. At the first race in 1990 there were 90 runners and 5 teams, all from the
North Coast Oregon area. Word spread quickly, though, and over the years the number
of runners has risen to 2,380. Teams come from all over Oregon, Washington, Idaho,
Hawaii, Canada and British Columbia. Mr. Branson is proud to say that many coaches
have come to him saying that kids were joining the cross country team just to go on the
trip to Seaside. The number of teams went up considerably when they began staying
overnight at Camp Rilea in the starship barracks. With a cheap place to stay, a lot more
teams could afford to come to the meet. In fact the huge growth in the meet almost
brought it to an end; such a huge meet was becoming impossible to organize. With
tremendous support from the school, Camp Rilea, community volunteers and his family,
Mr Branson kept it alive. He said “Me, I just knew the meet was unique, kids and
coaches had fun, and I enjoyed the process of making it happen.’ That’s what Three
Course is all about. For Mr. Branson and so many others just seeing “runners, coaches,
volunteers and spectators enjoying themselves is endlessly rewarding.” The motto of
Three Course is “celebrating the sport of cross country.” Next year, 2014, is the 25th
year of Three Course Challenge. That will be 25 years of celebrating an amazing sport,
and even more amazing runners, coaches, parents and everybody who loves cross county.
Our biggest meet was in 2012 with 2.834 finishers. The largest girls race was on the easy course in 2014 with 395 athletes, for the boys it was 555 finishers on the moderate course in 2012.
Year by year data is provided in the two links below. The first link addresses finisher per course by year and the second link shows schools and years they attended.
Here is a essay written by Summer Spell, one of Coach Branson's former students in 2014:
History of The Three Course Challenge
Most people in Seaside have been to, or at least heard of the Three Course
Challenge. For those who haven’t, it’s a cross country meet that takes place annually at
Camp Rilea.
It gets its name from the three separate courses, easy, medium and hard, that
runners can choose from. Well, not really choose, it’s more up to fate. Before the meet,
coaches from each team are given a canister of white, blue and red poker chips. Each
runner draws a token and that decides which course they run.Drawing a white token
means you run the easy course, blue is for medium, and red is for hard. {Note from meet director: we no longer use this method at the meet due to new timing requirements with chip timing. Coaches could still continue this tradition on their own but would need to do it before registration closes}
Three Course Challenge was formed by Mr. Neil Branson, the Seaside High School cross
country coach. In 1990, Mr. Branson and his assistant coach Mr. Gene Gilbertson
decided they wanted to create a meet that would suit different fitness levels. In the
beginning of a cross country season all the runners on a team are at different levels.
Some runners work out over the summer, some don’t and some do both. This makes
races in the beginning of the season too easy for some but mostly too hard for others. In
the Three Course Challenge, coaches can assign runners to the races suitable for
them. The easy course winds through the grassy hills of Camp Rilea. Running the
medium trail takes you through steeper grass hills and a few sand dunes. On the hard
course, runners are pushed to the limits as they trek through sand, hack their way
through forests, climb over fallen trees, crawl up almost vertical hills and wade through
mud pits.
Yes, mud pits. One year it rained so hard before the meet that part of the course was
flooded. When Mr. Gilbertson asked Mr. Branson what they should do, he said “run
them through it”, so they did. The next year when the course was dry, so many people
were disappointed that the guys at Camp Rilea trucked in gallons of water the following
year....and the seven years after that. The mud pits have been there ever since. The
whole token drawing thing started when one year Mr. Branson decided that all of his
runners were capable of running any course. They drew tokens and the other coaches
loved the idea. It’s been a part of the meet ever since. Of course, coaches can still
assign appropriate courses to runners if they feel the need. The easy course is a great
first course for beginners.
The number of teams and runners at the meet has increased a huge amount
over the years. At the first race in 1990 there were 90 runners and 5 teams, all from the
North Coast Oregon area. Word spread quickly, though, and over the years the number
of runners has risen to 2,380. Teams come from all over Oregon, Washington, Idaho,
Hawaii, Canada and British Columbia. Mr. Branson is proud to say that many coaches
have come to him saying that kids were joining the cross country team just to go on the
trip to Seaside. The number of teams went up considerably when they began staying
overnight at Camp Rilea in the starship barracks. With a cheap place to stay, a lot more
teams could afford to come to the meet. In fact the huge growth in the meet almost
brought it to an end; such a huge meet was becoming impossible to organize. With
tremendous support from the school, Camp Rilea, community volunteers and his family,
Mr Branson kept it alive. He said “Me, I just knew the meet was unique, kids and
coaches had fun, and I enjoyed the process of making it happen.’ That’s what Three
Course is all about. For Mr. Branson and so many others just seeing “runners, coaches,
volunteers and spectators enjoying themselves is endlessly rewarding.” The motto of
Three Course is “celebrating the sport of cross country.” Next year, 2014, is the 25th
year of Three Course Challenge. That will be 25 years of celebrating an amazing sport,
and even more amazing runners, coaches, parents and everybody who loves cross county.
| 3-course_team_attendance_to_2019.xlsx |
2018 - Complete Results - Overall and By Division Plus Team Scores
http://resultsdb.com/results/ThreeCourseChallengeResults2018.pdf
http://resultsdb.com/results/ThreeCourseChallengeResults2018.pdf
2017 - Complete results - overall and by division plus team scores
http://resultsdb.com/results/Seaside3CourseChallengeResults2107.pdf
http://resultsdb.com/results/Seaside3CourseChallengeResults2107.pdf
2016 - Complete results - overall and by division plus team scores
http://resultsdb.com/results/Seaside3CourseChallengeResults2106.pdf
http://resultsdb.com/results/Seaside3CourseChallengeResults2106.pdf
Here are what some others have said about our unique meet
http://www.mvrunning.com/news/what-a-weekend-at-the-three-course-challenge/
http://damianmulinix.blogspot.com/2013/09/in-mud-pit-at-three-course-challenge.html
https://pamakidscoach.wordpress.com/2010/09/15/the-three-course-challenge/
https://www.dailyastorian.com/sports/local/runners-tackle-the-challenge/article_58ff315b-6e6e-5525-92b7-b03badeb391e.html
http://www.mvrunning.com/news/what-a-weekend-at-the-three-course-challenge/
http://damianmulinix.blogspot.com/2013/09/in-mud-pit-at-three-course-challenge.html
https://pamakidscoach.wordpress.com/2010/09/15/the-three-course-challenge/
https://www.dailyastorian.com/sports/local/runners-tackle-the-challenge/article_58ff315b-6e6e-5525-92b7-b03badeb391e.html
