Canyon Rumble Frozen Half participants run the course last year in Madras. This year’s race is scheduled for Dec. 2.(Joe Kline/Bulletin file photo)

MADRAS — “Walking’s not a bad idea,” race director Trevor Groves told us runners at the starting line of the Canyon Rumble Frozen Half.

That’s not the sort of instruction you usually hear before a community race, but then again, Groves said, the MADras Runners never intended to put on an easy half marathon, 10K and 5K. Monstrous climbs, a few inches of snow, rocky terrain and mud — that was just part of the fun for the nearly 100 runners (and walkers) who took on the out-and-back course Saturday.

“Maybe there is a tougher 5K or 10K somewhere, but good luck finding one, especially when we include the M Hill,” Groves said after the race, referring to the steep hill (in some places, the hairpin trail reaches a grade of 20 percent) that makes up much of both the first mile and the final mile of each race. “We try to make people aware that it’s a very challenging course, and we run it rain or shine, snow or ice. Two years ago, it was 6 degrees when we started the race. We had 44 runners, and we decided to run it with 6 or 8 inches of snow on the ground.”

Now I love setting a PR as much as the next person, but there is something freeing about being warned ahead of time that, no, records will not fall today. It was a lot easier to appreciate the view from the top of M Hill — the iconic hill on the town’s western flank that, when not covered in snow, sports a massive painted “M” for Madras — without worrying about how much my pace suffered during the climb. The sight of Madras below and distant hills still speckled with snow was indeed breathtaking, although it is hard to know how much of that could be attributed to the beauty of Central Oregon and how much was due to the strong gusts of wind blowing right into my face (it gets very breezy up there).

Once reaching the summit, the course immediately winds back down the hill to the 5K turnaround point. (That’s right, the M Hill takes up almost all of the 5K course. Keep that in mind if you feel the urge to sign up next year.)

For those of us who were not turning back just yet, the course continued into Willow Canyon, where half an inch or so of crunchy snow covered the rocky path. Between ice and rocks, it paid to take the trail a little slower than usual, but that just gave me more time to appreciate the gorgeous snow-covered canyon, which blocked the stiff wind in addition to providing a beautiful winter scene. (In my case, the effect was somewhat broken when I tripped on a rock and took a bite out of the trail right before I took the 10K turnaround, but hey, the peaceful morning run was nice while it lasted.)

According to Brandon Hoffman, the men’s half marathon winner, the canyon path largely cleared up about 3 miles into the race,

“You hit a couple of patches, but only small little 30-foot patches,” said Hoffman, 30 and of Bend. “Other than that it was dry the rest of the way out, which was nice because it was about a 31⁄2-mile section of good running.”

Far from being scared off by the difficulty of the course, Hoffman said he was excited to take on one of Central Oregon’s more challenging races.

“I like the climbing — it’s one of the things I’m better at,” Hoffman said. “I come from a ski-mountaineer background, so I’m good at going uphill, though not necessarily that fast. I was hoping to run a little bit better, but the wind and the snow slowed it down a little bit.”

Hoffman won in 1 hour, 28 minutes and 34 seconds, about three minutes off the course record. Amber Singh, 38 and of Klamath Falls, won the women’s half marathon in 1:44:42.

“I’m definitely coming back next year,” Hoffman said. “Hopefully there will be no snow and I can get that course record, that’s my goal.”

—Reporter: 541-383-0305, vjacobsen@bendbulletin.com