Despite Birch Equipment taking first place for the last four years, Boomer’s Drive-In’s Ski to Sea team doesn’t let it affect them. They approach the race with a mindset focused on going out and having the best race day they can after coming in second the previous three years.
Birch Equipment won’t be competing this year, but many of their team members from previous years have joined two teams: Pacific North Sports and Marr’s Heating, AC, Plumbing & Electrical.
Ski to Sea is a seven-leg relay race from Mt. Baker Ski Area to Marine Park in Fairhaven, covering around 93 miles. The race first took place in 1973 and has been held annually since, except in 2020 and 2021. Anna Rankin, executive director of this year’s Ski to Sea Committee, said that to her knowledge, there is no other race like it.
“The run leg is brutal, but some of the most picturesque scenery you’ll find in an 8-mile stretch in this county or country,” Rankin wrote in an email. “Every leg is stunning, and we’re lucky to have beautiful parks at each transition zone as well.”
Boomer’s has sponsored a team for over two decades, starting in 2005, and has been a dominant force since. Boomer’s took the top spot from 2017 to 2019. Many members of the 2019 team are still with the team, including Juan Castillo, the team's downhill runner, who almost let the team's lead slip but rallied to keep them in front.
“That was nerve-racking as heck,” Castillo said. “I thought I had just doomed my team by, you know, having something like that happen, but knowing that my teammates had all of our backs.”
The team’s approach this year, however, is no different than before. Mischa Burnett, the team coordinator who organizes all of the competitors, just focuses on putting together the best group of racers he can and looking for people who want to have fun.
“We’re close as a group,” Burnett said. “The idea is (to) get the right people and then keep them for a long time. That’s always been the vision.”
Birch’s dominance doesn’t change how they approach training. Castillo focuses on getting a little better every year and staying in the best shape possible, knowing that’s all he can do to chip away at Birch or any other team.
“It’s just a matter of trying to close the gap down, because there is – at the end of the day – a gap in ability,” Castillo said. “Each year, (you) just try and stay healthy and try to get fitter than you were the year before.”
Lance Romo, the team’s new canoer, said that equipment plays a large part in each member’s training routine. With some canoes being faster than others but not necessarily being the right fit for him due to size, it’s all about the balance of the boat.
“We’re in a P3, which isn't as fast as a V1, but if we’re in a V1, we might be upside down because we’re bigger than some of the guys out there,” Romo said. “Your equipment matters to a large degree.”
Burnett and the rest of the team don’t consider the losses to Birch as losses; they count the ability to go out and compete to the best of their ability as a win in and of itself.
Burnett recounted a specific instance from the 2024 team where Castillo had an injury that could’ve kept him out of the race, but he battled back and was able to help the team get to second place. Castillo was just happy to be able to race that day and go out to do his best.
“I was able to actually run my fastest time,” Castillo said. “It was incredibly special to be able to bounce back from something that I thought was a life-changing event for me, (and) to be able to come back out and do that and help my team.”
Romo said the personal triumphs of everyone in the race are among the most important things to remember when it comes to winning or losing. He said it’s not the same as a basketball game where there is a definitive winner and loser, but just getting out and doing it is the win for Ski to Sea.
“You’ve got 10,000 people and number 900 is somebody doing their first Ironman after cancer, that’s not a loss,” Romo said. “The beauty about endurance events like this is you scored a win, you got up off the couch, you did the thing.”
Boomer’s isn’t affected by the losses, they plan to go out and have the best possible race day. Without Birch Equipment competing, the competition is wide open, and Boomer’s has a strong chance of taking the top spot.
Ski to Sea 2026 will start at Mt. Baker Ski Area on Sunday, May 24, at 7:30 a.m. Keep an eye out for the Boomer’s Drive-In team, who will be wearing bib number one.
Chayton Engelson (he/him) is a sports and recreation senior reporter for The Front. He is in his second year at Western and is majoring in news/editorial journalism with a minor in film studies. When he isn’t covering stories, he is usually doing community theater or watching movies. You can reach him at chaytonengelson.thefront@gmail.com.
