The Event

Bellingham Traverse is an endurance multi-sport challenge that celebrates the life journey of salmon. Soloists, tandem and relay teams compete for survival on the course that demonstrates the urban and natural challenges that salmon face in their journey. The course follows the urban greenways and roads through Bellingham, showcasing the city's parks including Boulevard Park, Lake Padden, Fairhaven, and Marine Park. The course then heads out into the open water of Bellingham Bay finishing at a hidden beach at the end of Cornwall Avenue that is where all teams gather to finish the last leg together as they "trek" the last 1/2 mile to the finish line at the Depot Market Square and Boundary Bay Brewery.

Each Traverse participant (SPAWNER) is encouraged to choose an environmental group or related non-profit.. The group that they choose will be whom they will be raising funds for through pledges. This event is unique in that participants have the opportunity to choose the group that their pledges will benefit. 100% of what is raised goes directly to the group of choice.

To encourage people to raise money, we have "Bait" donated by local companies.
For every $500 that you raise, you get cool Traverse gear and a raffle ticket to win the great prizes.

The People
The core of the event is a husband and wife team: Todd and Heather Elsworth. In addition, there are numerous volunteers that help to make this event a success year after year.



The Story
The Bellingham Traverse is the creation of Todd Elsworth. Born in Bellingham, Elsworth was raised in Kirkland and graduated from Western Washington University in 1992. After graduation, he moved to Ketchum, Idaho where he met Mike "Baldy" Wilson who introduced Elsworth to the writings of David James Duncan. Reading The River Why was a strong reminder how much salmon matter to the people of the Northwest and the commitment that we as humans must have to protecting their habitat.

Elsworth was on his own life's journey and told his buddy Baldy that he was headed to the Northeast to pursue his dreams of studying and teaching American History. Baldy's response was "You are a salmon boy- born in the Northwest, you will return". With this in mind, Elsworth travelled by sailboat from Seattle through the Panama Canal to Antigua in the Carribbean. Then up to Portsmouth, New Hampshire where he lived for six years and became an active member of the community.

While in Portsmouth, Elsworth became involved with a bicycle advocacy group-Seacoast Area Bicycle Routes by creating an event to raise money for a bicycle/pedestrian bridge. The event was a success and consequently ran for four years. After a short teaching career, Elsworth joined his close friends at a design house, Harbour Light Productions, where they were able to take philanthropy to the next level helping non-profits throughout the region with design, web production and other related consulting services. Elsworth became involved with many groups and gained a strong understanding of the unique needs and roles that non-profits play in any community. It was then time to continue the journey, but before leaving New Hampshire, Elsworth competed as a soloist in The Son of Inferno Pentathlon.

Returning to Bellngham in 2001, Elsworth saw an opportunity in the community. With Ski to Sea as the "Grandaddy of Races" it didn't fill the need for people to go solo. Elsworth also wanted to create an event that was essentially an extension of himself. It went back to the readings of Duncan- who had then released a book titled "My Story as Told by Water". Elsworth had viewed his own life's journey in an parallel to that of salmon. Here was an opportunity to create an event that helped to tell the story of salmon.

The ideas spawned from there. The goal was create an event that would help raise the visibility of the importance of salmon in the ecological landscape while taking part in recreational activities that people enjoy in the region. It had to be a big circle, so Elsworth literally connected the dots of the local parks utilizing the extensive network of greenways and roads to make for a scenic yet challenging course.

It was also important to have it be a community event. Many athletic events raise money for good causes that are health related, but not many raised money for the environmental community. Elsworth started with a list of groups that stood out as leaders including Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association, RE Sources, North Cascades Institute, Conservation Northwest (previously NWEA) and many others. The objective was to give these groups an opportunity to be seen by the public in a forum called the Eco-Expo that hosted booths of the groups near the finish line.

The Bellingham Traverse was begun in 2001 and has morphed over the years. Now you know the rest of the story.

Here's a bit more as covered in the Bellingham Herald Friday, September 26th