In Focus: Pe Ell River Runners Make Splash

Continuing a tradition that dates back to 1978, revelers hit the Chehalis River for the Pe Ell River Run on Saturday. 

The unofficial event, held the second Saturday of each April, begins at a riverfront home on Queen Avenue in Pe Ell and takes participants downriver to Rainbow Falls State Park, where most participants exit the river — some before the falls and some after. 

The annual event is open to all people. Participants in vessels of all kinds — including canoes, dinghies, homemade rafts and kayaks — take part in the River Run. 

Original event founder Jim Merrill, who has been dubbed “King of the River” by some participants, reflected on the 1978 inaugural River Run in an interview with The Chronicle in 2022. 

Merrill said he and his buddies were partying in the 70 degree weather, asking, “What should we do today?”

“And somebody said, ‘Let’s go ride the river,’” Merrill said.

Somewhere down line, the River Run became a community-wide event.