Boat Drop-off & Pick-up

BOAT DROP-OFF – Riverbend Park

Friday, May 16th | 2:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 17th | 7:00 a.m. – 8:30 a.m.

We are expecting parking to be increasingly limited near Riverbend Park for PPP weekend in future years. Therefore, we have changed the process for dropping off boats. We ask participants to follow this schedule on Friday, to the best of their ability, to mitigate traffic congestion and to expedite boat drop-off. If racers arrive during their designated slot, they will be allowed to access close parking for a quick boat drop-off. The Saturday morning drop-off window may be used by any category, but is only recommended as a last resort.

Friday Drop-off Schedule

2:00 – 2:20 – Elite & All Adaptive Categories

2:20 – 2:40 – Male Individuals

2:40 – 3:00 – Female Individuals, Non-binary Individuals & Pairs

3:00 – 3:30 – Male Pairs

3:30 – 4:00 – Mixed Pairs

4:00 – 4:15 – Female, Family & Tandem Pairs

4:15 – 4:30 – Male Teams

4:30 – 5:00 – Female Teams

5:00 – 5:40 – Mixed Teams

5:40 – 6:00 – Family Teams

6:00 – 6:15 – Open, Tandem, Military & Non-binary Teams

6:15 – 6:45 – Business Teams

6:45 – 7:30 – Out of Towners 

The entrance for boat drop-off is located at the SW Columbia & Shevlin-Hixon intersection at the entrance to Riverbend Park and the Bend Metro Parks and Recreation District Office. Security will ask for your category in order to access the reserved parking.Your boat must have a number sticker from Packet Pickup before it is placed in the transition area.

Boats will be placed according to your category/division and the last digit on your bib number. Elites, Individuals and all Adaptive Divisions will be closest to the water. Teams will be disqualified for moving boats once they have been assigned a slot, for practice or any other reasons.

Boats arriving via the river will be directed around the exterior of the secured boat placement area to the Boat Unloading Zone of the parking lot, where volunteers will be available to guide racers to appropriate staging area. There will be no boat placement from the launch beach directly into the placement area.

Overnight security will be provided for boats dropped off on Friday.

BOAT PICK-UP at Farewell Bend Park – 11:30 – 4:30pm on Saturday, 5/17

Boats will be organized by bib number once they exit the water at Farewell Bend Park. The boat pick-up window will be from 11:30am – 4:30pm. All racers must pick-up their boats during that window. MBSEF will not be responsible for any boats that remain after the pick-up window.

Option for boats in the Teams Category…

By the time racers in the Teams Category are finishing their paddle, enough space in Riverbend Park will have opened up to store boats there. These paddlers may opt to tag their sprinter and then paddle their boat back to Riverbend for self-storage. If you opt for self-storage, be sure to TELL YOUR VOLUNTEER THAT YOU ARE KEEPING YOUR BOAT. You’ll still need to come up onto the beach for tagging. Keep in mind if your boat stays on the beach for more than 2 mins volunteers will likely assume it’s been abandoned and move it into storage. After tagging, you may paddle your boat back to Riverbend. Around 2:30 we will open up the parking lot next to the Run-to-Paddle Transition for boat pick-up in Riverbend.

If picking up by car in Farewell Pull-Through…

Racers who are picking up by car should plan to arrive at pick-up within 40 minutes of crossing the finish line. Racers may also send a teammate or proxy, but anyone picking up a boat must have a matching bib number in hand. Racers picking boats up by car will use the “pull-through/parking” closest to Farewell Bend Beach and plan to park only in the far right lane when space becomes available. Please plan to have a bib number in your hand or within easy reach when you pull into the pick-up zone. Volunteers will use the bib number to help locate and bring the boat to the correct parked car. Those picking up the boat must do the loading and securing themselves. PLEASE DO NOT PLAN TO BRING TRAILER INTO THE PULL-THROUGH. PLEASE PICK-UP BY WATER IF YOUR ONLY OPTION IS A TRAILER. 

If the pull-through appears full as you approach, please plan to do a lap or two through the roundabouts between Century and Brookswood. DO NOT STOP TRAFFIC ON REED MARKET OR TRY TO PARK IN THE BIKE LANE. MBSEF staff, with the support of professional security personnel, will do our very best to keep this pick-up zone moving quickly and smoothly.

If picking up by water in Farewell Bend…

If a racer would like to remove their boat via water, we ask racers to wait to launch their boat from Farewell Bend Beach until the majority of racers have finished, and no earlier than 2:30. This is a great option if you are able to be dropped off or walk over to Farewell from Riverbend.

Thank you for your help and patience with this new system. With the recent development of lots near the river, and more events occurring on PPP weekend, it’s important that we explore new ways to creatively utilize limited parking while working to mitigate traffic congestion close to the river.