Longboard races start this Friday

The Second Annual Cathlamet Downhill Corral, a series of internationally sanctioned longboard races, will take place this Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

The longboard races are expected to bring 100 competitors to the area this weekend, over twice the number that competed last year.

They will compete for prize money; a portion of the entry fees will be donated to the skateboard facilities at Erickson Park.

The schedule is:

Friday

5 p.m., the slide competition on Broadway Street,

6 p.m., the tight slalom on River Street

Saturday

8:30 a.m., breakfast for competitors at Stockhouse's Farm, W. Birnie Slough Road, Puget Island.

10 a.m., start of two push races at the farm; one goes seven miles and the other 15 miles around the big island.

2 p.m., Mystery Slalom, Una Street, Cathlamet. The course will be set up by Skip Marcotte, former North American tight slalom champion.

Time to be announced: There will be a live band at the marina, and the Chamber of Commerce will have a beer garden.

Sunday

7:30 a.m. Wahkiakum Community Network breakfast at the Elochoman Slough Marina.

9:00 a.m., down hill races will get underway.

The course starts at Wahkiakum High School and weaves down South Third, Spring, Columbia and Broadway to finish on Commercial.

Parts of streets will be closed for the races. On Friday, Broadway and River streets will close at 3 p.m. On Saturday, Una Street will close at the highway end at 10 a.m. to set up for the Giant Slalom race. At 8 a.m. Sunday, the downhill course will close to set up.

The town council passed a resolution closing the streets along the course to parking during races and gave law enforcement authority to have violating vehicles towed away.

The SR 409 intersection at the foot of Columbia Street will be closed at times during the Sunday races, and the SR 409 intersections with Birnie Slough and Sunny Sands roads will be closed at times Saturday.