Liz Perkin's hobbies

Long Distance Running

At the 2005 Ride-and-Tie Championship

I've loved running all my life--early on I ditched my "girlie" huffy bicycle in favor of running. I started running competitvely in high school and continued running track and cross country through my freshman year of college at Gonzaga University. Unfortunately, when I transferred to Reed College my sophomore year, I largely left behind organized sports. Though I enjoyed the three years of rugby I played while at Reed, I still mostly love to run. I did manage to run my first marathon at Reed and look forward to doing more marathons, as well as trying to enter some 5k and 10k track races at open collegiate track meets during the spring.

Crossing the finish line with team mate Jes Jacobs at the 2005 Ride-and-Tie Championship

Ride and Tie

Though I've known about and wanted to compete in Ride and Tie since I was in high school, I didn't get involved until 2005, when I completed my first race, the World Championship, in Libby, MT. Ride and Tie is a fun and challenging sport combining running, riding, endurance and strategy. Teams consist of two runners and one horse who complete a 20-100 mile trail course by "leapfrogging" one another. That is, one person starts on the horse, the other on foot. The horse travels faster than the runner; after a previously arranged time has passed, the person on the horse gets off, ties the horse to a tree and takes off running. The first runner comes up to the horse, unties it and trots or gallops down the trail. When the horsed partner reaches the runner, the person on the horse can either get off and exchange with the other partner (a "flying tie") or can ride on and tie the horse to a tree. Partners do this for the entire distance and each team learns to maximize the different members' strengths and weaknesses to their advantage. Click here to learn more about Ride and Tie