Heart of the Valley Runners Club is a diverse group of road and trail runners from the Corvallis area. The club was founded in 2008 and now has over 360 members. HOTV has various standing meetups throughout the week, hosts several local races (road, trail, and on the track), and provides support and community for local runners.  “It’s a great group of people who care a lot about each other and running in Corvallis!” says Val Stanley, a member of the Board of Directors.

A snowy group run to Dimple Hill in McDonald Forest

On Mondays, club members meet at the Bald Hill Midge Cramer bike path. They typically run the trails around Bald Hill during the dry and sunny part of the year. On Thursday mornings a group meets to run from the Bald Hill Oak Creek trailhead. “Throughout the year we host a “Tour de Mac”, in which we meet on Sundays to explore the McDonald Forest, showcasing many of the fun trails and different trailhead options — Oak Creek, Chip Ross Park, Lewisburg Saddle, and Peavy Arboretum,” explains Stanley. The club likes to mix social time with running, so each week they get together for food and drinks on Thursday night after a run. HOTV also hosts a couple of potlucks each year, an annual meeting, and trail building events.  Check the Facebook page to find out about more events.

Group photo with the HOTV pop-up tent in Sisters for the Peterson Ridge Rumble

The Adventure Run series is a new program started by Stanley and Abby Hauver. “So far we’ve run at Alsea Falls (Monroe, OR) and Larison Rock (Oakridge, OR),” says Stanley. “The club is often well-represented at the Cape Perpetua fun run in Yachats in January as well. It is not uncommon for club members to organize impromptu meetups to run at Marys Peak in the summer.”

HOTV cheer squad with a poster at the Dimple Hill Aid Station, McDonald Forest 50k 2019

Outside of Corvallis races, HOTV usually gets a big group for Peterson Ridge in Sisters, as well as Silver Falls in Silverton. Traditionally, the club brings numerous runners for the Scandia Run in Junction City and the Zena Road Run in Salem. “In the summer (relay season!) HOTV is well-represented at the Barrel To Key Relay (shout out to back to back women’s division champion Bad Mother Runners!),”  exudes Stanley. “We’ve had a HOTV team for 7 years running at Wild Rogue Relay. And there is also typically a HOTV team or two participating in Cascade Lakes Relay. So many major friendships have developed out of the club! I only moved to Corvallis two years ago, and already it feels like home, and HOTV was a huge part of that, especially the Thursday night social run.”