An elite field featuring most of the world's best marathoners has arrived in Oregon for this year's World Track and Field Championships. Competitors from 34 countries will race through the streets of Eugene and neighboring Springfield this coming Sunday morning for the men and Monday for the women. Some of the marathoners are trying to outrun both their rivals and Father Time.

It's uncommon for athletes to compete and excel in two professional sports, especially ones as punishing as football or sprint hurdles. But a Seattle-born speedster who ran track and played football at the University Oregon is now attempting that rare feat.

A Northwest adventure race that some call "the best worst idea" has returned after a long, pandemic hiatus. The 2022 running of the Race to Alaska for engineless boats cast off at the first light of dawn Monday amid high winds in the Strait of Juan de Fuca that the organizers characterized as "between seasick and dangerous."

The U.S. Forest Service has okayed a plan to develop what would be the first overnight tourist facilities within the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument, including camping, cabins and a lodge.

Fewer people in the Northwest are learning to hunt, which causes funding problems for state fish and wildlife departments. To solve the funding problem, experienced hunters are teaching newbies how to get involved in the sport.

The Columbia River has long divided the two halves of Washington's cross-state Palouse to Cascades State Park Trail. Now, a rebuilt rail trestle over the river south of Vantage connects the two sides making it easier for cyclists, horse riders and hikers to undertake a spectacular east-west journey.

Next week, Gov. Jay Inslee is expected to sign a law designating pickleball as the official state sport of Washington. The mash-up of badminton, tennis and pingpong has come a long way since its invention on Bainbridge Island, Washington, in 1965. Skilled local pickleball players have turned pro and brand new businesses are opening to cater to the pandemic boom in recreational play.

None of the thirteen Winter Olympians with ties to the Pacific Northwest is coming home from the Beijing Games with a medal. Still, many of the Northwest's elite skiers, skaters and sliders will leave Sunday's closing ceremony with feelings of accomplishment, or relief just to have made it through the ever-present COVID-19 testing gauntlet, not to mention the geopolitical tensions of competing on Chinese soil in 2022.

The presence of 13 skiers, skaters and sliders with ties to the Northwest should add intrigue to the 2022 Beijing Olympics, although the upcoming sports spectacle beset with extreme COVID precautions, a diplomatic boycott and scarce snowfall hardly needs more drama. Several late additions to the Team USA Olympic roster upped the regional representation at next month’s Winter Games to similar levels as in past editions.

A roller skating rink in Federal Way, Washington, has a remarkable track record of minting future ice skating Olympians. The rink is probably best known for being the early training ground for Apolo Ohno, among others. The streak continues now for an eighth consecutive Winter Olympics with a new short track speedskater on Team USA named Corinne Stoddard. But meanwhile, the storied roller rink is for sale.