Oregon brewery launches first ‘Salmon Run’

Pelican Brewing, based in Pacific City in Oregon, is holding its inaugural ‘Salmon Run’ this month to raise awareness for The Salmon SuperHwy, described as “an ambitious salmon habitat restoration initiative”.

The charity run will take place on 23 September and attendees can choose to participate in either the 5k or 10k races. Both routes will begin and end at the Tillamook Pelican Brewery and Tap Room where runners will be treated to a post-race thirst-quencher as a reward for their hard work.

Last year, Pelican brewed Five Fin West Coast Pilsner to support the salmon – a percentage of the proceeds are donated directly to The Salmon SuperHwy. This year it has gone a step further, acting as both a sponsor and donor to The Salmon SuperHwy, and using the funds raised by the run to back the initiative in Tillamook County.

Entry costs $45 for the 5k and $50 for the 10k and is free for children aged five years and under. Participants will receive an official Pelican Brewing Salmon Run race shirt and pint glass as well as a pint of Five Fin for those aged over 21.

The Salmon SuperHwy aims to “reconnect fish populations with the habitat they need to navigate and survive”. Started in 2014, it is estimated that the project will take 10 years to complete and will cost around $34 million.

The Salmon SuperHwy will work across 93 different locations over a 940-square-mile area that has six rivers, and aims to achieve increased access for six species of ocean-going fish.

Pelican Brewing was founded in 1996 and still boasts Pacific City’s only oceanfront brewpub. It is known for flagship brews such as Kiwanda Cream Ale, India Pelican Ale and Tsunami Stout and has a network of distributors in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, Hawaii and Vermont. It operates brewing and brewpub facilities in Pacific City, Tillamook and Cannon Beach.

CEO of Pelican Brewing Company, Jim Prinzing, said: “Pelican Brewing is proud to support The Salmon SuperHwy and since becoming aware of the project last year, we have been looking for more ways to increase awareness and raise funds”.

“We started that effort by creating Five Fin West Coast Pilsner, a beer we designed specifically for the initiative, and now we are really excited to host the Pelican Brewing Salmon Run to raise money and educate more folks about the need.”

Terry Turner, Oregon Council chair, Trout Unlimited said: “Pelican Brewing Company is a valued leader in our effort to raise awareness and funding to protect salmon in Tillamook County—which impacts all of us at some level”.

“We hope Pelican’s creative funding strategy will encourage other companies and organisations to join this very important salmon habitat restoration effort”.

You can keep up to date with all the Salmon Run antics by following the respective Twitter and Facebook pages.