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The Story Behind The Meet

From humble beginnings, to the premier cross country meet in Washington State


  • 1983

    Back Trail and Bridge Construction

    With the help of an old WWII bulldozer, athletes, parents, coaches, and inginuity, the original course trail was blazed. Two stream crossings on the course presented a challenge, but thanks to hard work and determination, two bridges were constructed to allow access to the back woods.

  • Inagural Race and Race Naming

    In the Fall of 1983, the first invitational race was held with 11 teams in attendance. The start of the race was on the varsity baseball field headed straight out the back of the outfield. As the teams took off down the cource, they would need to make a sharp right hand turn through a small 5-6 foot wide opening in a fence line. The image reminded then Lakewood XC Head Coach, Mike Evans, of the Hole-in-the-Wall that the infamous Jesse James and his gang would hide out in. Thus the race got its name and was an instant classic.

  • 1999

    Race Expansion

    In 1999 Lakewood High School began hosting the Cascade and WESCO conference championships. Teams saw the Hole In The Wall Invitational as the perfect course preview for the championship races. That year the number of team entries grew to 86 teams.

  • 2002

    Rebuilding The Bridges

    Once upon a time a beaver decided to make a den just down stream from the second bridge. One year it caused a flood that swept away the second bridge! It was decided that it was time for a brand new permanent constuction. With the help of parents and coaches, two new steel bridge frames with wooden decking were constructed.

  • 2010

    Senior Project

    Mitchell Gogert, former Lakewood XC team member, uses his senior project to make an upgrade to the original hole-in-the-wall fence opening. The upgraded feature has since become a popular photo spot for runners to capture a memory or two.

  • NIKE comes on board

    Through the help of Lakewood XC alumni Mack Lavier, a partnership with NIKE was born. NIKE has been kind enough to supply the invitational with flagging and fencing to line the course as a crowd control barrier and visual enhancement. In addition to the flagging and fencing, NIKE also supplies the invitational with customized backpacks for the top finishers in each race.

  • 2011

    Timing and Finishline Upgrades

    In 2011 Coach Sowards and Coach Cullen Cantwell, wrote a successful grant application through the City of Marysville TPA to purchase an IPICO chip timing system. With the addition of chip timing, instant and accurate results were now possible.

    In addition to the new timing system, a finishline arch was brought in to help make the finish feel more fitting of the size of the meet. It also allowed for better viewing of the race clock as finishers approached the line.

  • 2013

    The Digital Age

    With the success of the meet, upgrades have been necessary to keep the quality of the event at is maximum. 2013 saw a new wrapper for the finish-line arch, more specialized NIKE flagging and fencing was brought in, pop-up tents at the start-line for runners to change spikes and stay dry were available, and on-line meet coverage was provided by Runnerspace.com.

  • 2014

    Hole In The Wall Goes Online

    2014 saw the Hole In The Wall make its debut on the internet with it's own meet website. With the help of Three Finger Designs, the meet now had one central location for anyone wanting to ascertain information on the event. From race times and meet results, to a Twitter feed and travel information, nearly every topic regarding the meet could be found in one place.

  • Promotional Videos

    2014 also saw the first promotional video created for the meet using footage from the 2014 races. Curious Eyes Company came on board to film and produce a short video. With the help of a quadcopter and captivating cinematography, the experience of the race could now be seen by everyone, everywhere.

  • 2015

    Additional Features

    In 2015, the meet was again upgraded to include a brand new backdrop for awards, new 1 mile and 2 mile flags, a finish corral in place of the old finish chutes, and the redecking of the bridges to include an additional 4 feet of width. 2015 also was the first time over 100 teams and 3200 athletes made the journey to the Hole In The Wall Invitational to compete in the premier XC meet of Washington State.

  • 2016

    Course Revision

    In 2016 the Hole In The Wall Invitational had a major revision to the start of the race. With the construction of the new Lakewood High School right in the middle of the previous start/end of the 1st and 2nd loops, the course was re-routed into the stadium at the North East corner. This also eliminated the often eventuful 180 degree hairpin turn at the enterance to the stadium.

  • 2017

    Website and Timing

    Always striving to improve the meet, 2017 saw the addition of a brand new photo-finish FinishLynx timing system integrated with the existing IPICO chip-timing system. This allowed for the most accurate results possible.

    2017 was also the debute of the newly renovated Hole In The Wall website. The updated website allows for greater ease of access to any and all information regarding the meet.

  • 2021

    Elite Field Addition

    With the continual addition of high quality and national caliber teams to the Hole In The Wall start lists, it was time to dedicate a race to those "elite" teams. 2021 held the first Elite, by invitation only, races and they did not disappoint.

  • Finish Line Arch

    A new finish line arch was in need to keep up with the high quality of the meet. Running though this awesome feature is the cherry on top at the end of a hard 5k. Athletes and spectators have thoroughly enjoyed this visual upgrade to the event.