David Lee
My wife Carla (61) and I (71) live in Tacoma and are proud parents of four children, two daughters and identical twin sons. We’ve been fit and active all our lives and among our many interests, cycling and travel are two of our favorites and we’ve supported and cycled the Foothills Trails for a long time. We’ve cycled the Pacific Coast Bike Route from Tacoma to Santa Barbara, the Coeur d’Alene Bike Trail, and many other regional bike trails in Washington, Oregon, and California.
We’re also avid backpackers having trekked the 380 km John Muir Trail (Yosemite to Mt. Whitney), the 67 km Timberline Trail (Mt. Hood), and the 153 km Wonderland Trail (Mt. Rainier) twice. Now we’re planning a 1250 km cycling journey from the headwaters of the Rhine River in the Swiss Alps downstream to Amsterdam next summer.
Our volunteering stints include living in Costa Rica, teaching English in Argentina, Ukraine as Peace Corps Volunteers, and at Baan Chivit Mai (Swedish-run NGO providing housing & education to hill tribe children) in Chiangrai, Northern Thailand.
Audrey Pitigliano
I’ve lived in Pierce County all my life from childhood in Steilacoom, to my home in Puyallup since the early 1980’s. My first love and college degree was in Recreation from WSU. I was thrilled when I first heard about the idea to convert the railway and periodically used and supported the trail as it got developed and I have loved every addition.
I worked in Buckley since the early 1980’s and often used the trail during my lunch break or with clients for recreational pursuits. I retired in 2020 and biking, hiking, and walking on the trails was a life saver during COVID and continues to be in my retirement.
I am running for a spot on the FTC Board to help support and sustain all the hard work that has already been done, and to advance more safe connections to our trails/parks across Pierce County. I look forward to using my skills to advocate for equal access to recreational opportunities and programs within the trail system, for persons of all ages, genders, ethnicities, socioeconomic status, and physical/cognitive abilities.
Victoria Lincoln
I’m a lifelong resident of Pierce County and very supportive of projects like this Trail that get people outdoors. I have a degree from Evergreen State College and spent most of my career in Olympia, advocating for local governments in front of the Legislature. It would be a pleasure to be able to serve on this Board and hope my experience in state government can be useful.
The Foothills Trail is one of the jewels of Pierce County. One of my favorite things to do is to ride the Trail on my mountain bike. It’s amazing how many people I see enjoying it – walkers, runners, bikes, skateboards, and strollers, to name a few. I’ve even seen a unicycle along the trail on more than one occasion. It’s gratifying to see the community embrace the trail and all it has to offer.
John Hopkins
I left London, England in my early 20’s to visit my sister in Anchorage, Alaska and ended up staying 15 years. I became an electrician, met my wife and had three children. It was a rags to riches to rags story that ended with us all driving down the Alcan Highway in a brown station wagon with suitcases strapped to the top. We ended up in Puyallup and started an electrical construction company.
All went well until the last recession, but closing the business was a blessing in disguise. It freed up time for treks and climbs throughout the world and to give back to the community. I joined the boards of Arts Downtown and Pierce Conservation District and now serve on multiple committees with other organizations. I currently work with the Foothills Coalition in my position of Chair of Friends of the Riverwalk and founder of the All Along the Riverwalk Arts and Education event, which has successfully showcased our local trails. I would be honored to become a Foothills Rails to Trails Coalition board member.
Robin Partington (running for reelection)
My late husband Don Partington and I first became involved with the Foothills Trail Coalition in 1987 when we volunteered to help staff the Coalition’s booth at the Washington State Fair, accompanied by our then-six month old son, Daniel. Dan is now 35 with a six month old daughter of his own who will soon experience the joy of trails from a jogging stroller.
I enthusiastically support and use urban, rural and wilderness trails. I look forward to working with the Board to further the Coalition’s mission in support of trails and trail users. As a Board member, I have been helping with the capital campaign for the Foothills Trails Doc Tait Pavilion in Buckley, where Dr. Douglas “Doc” Tait founded the Foothills Tails-to-Trails Coalition and where the first mile of the Foothills Trail was completed.
Steve Brown (running for reelection)
I’ve been involved with the Foothills Trail as a volunteer for over 30 years (over half my lifetime). Lately, I have focused on county connections: Foothills Trail north to Sumner and then the Interurban; Yelm to Roy; and of course our favorite, from Mount Rainier to Tacoma using the R2R route.
I also have been spending a lot more time in the Carbon Canyon, which is everything above the town of Wilkeson. It is a great area for hiking, biking, fishing and camping. This is also the access to the northwest corner of Mount Rainier National Park.
Dan WhitakerFebruary 2, 2026 - 3:04 pm
Jaime Pardo-CollingJanuary 27, 2026 - 2:44 pm
Chris GardnerJanuary 27, 2026 - 2:41 pm
Rainier to Ruston 2024 – A Great Success!
By Dan Bucci
The Foothills Coalition held the 22nd annual Rainier to Ruston Relay on Saturday, June 1st, 2024. The event is always held on the first Saturday of June to celebrate National Trails Day. This event has become a hallmark of the Pacific Northwest Running community, and is one of the biggest races held in the South Sound area. This year saw a huge increase in participation, with 325 teams, and 20 solo runners. With just around 1,600 runners participating in the event, this was the 2nd largest Rainier to Ruston in the event’s history, only behind 2019 which had just under 2,000 participants. This year’s event however did take in the most revenue ever, which is fantastic as this is the single largest revenue source for the Coalition’s operating budget every year!
Participants in the race cover about 53 miles, running from the Carbon River entrance of Mount Rainier National Park and finishing along the Tacoma Waterfront in Cummings Park along Ruston Way. Participants may choose to tackle the distance as 6-person, 4-person, 3-person, or 2-person teams, with each team member taking on multiple “legs” of the event. A few hearty souls (we had 20 this year) chose to run the entire length by themselves! But it’s not just the runners doing lots of work on race day! In the days leading up to the event, there are hundreds of hours poured into marking the course, getting the race equipment cleaned and staged, putting together race packets, and making sure we are prepared to host 1,600 runners. On race day itself, there are somewhere around 100 volunteers that help out at the start line, along the course, and at the finish line to make sure the event goes off without a hitch!
This year we also had extremely generous sponsors, with cash sponsorships from the Port of Tacoma, and Par Pacific, a donation of beer for the beer garden from Silver City Brewing and Athletic Brewing Company, and cookies donated by Farm 12 for all runners at the Meeker Exchange.
The goal of the event is not to simply raise funds for the coalition, but also to showcase the existing trail, and the corridors where we are working to extend the trail. Participants begin the race running along the Carbon River, and through the Carbon Canyon through the communities of Carbonado and Wilkeson. They then pick-up the completed portions of the Foothills Trail in South Prairie, run through Orting, and into Puyallup. After Puyallup, runners navigate the levee trail and various roads as they traverse through Fife and Tacoma until they arrive at the Museum of Glass in Downtown Tacoma. They then complete the race mostly on park paths and sidewalks along the Tacoma Waterfront and finish on Ruston Way. The race path largely follows the path where we envision having a completed, non-motorized trail, connecting Mount Rainier to the Puget Sound.
Teams are encouraged to decorate their vehicles, come up with creative team names, and run in costumes to add more fun to the day. After finishing the race, runners are treated to a beer garden, and some light refreshments at the finish line while a DJ spins tunes. This year, we also had massages and sno-cones available for purchase! It was great to walk around and see so many people supporting our trail and running for a good cause. The 2024 event felt to me like the most organized, well executed R2R we’ve had to date. I’m looking forward to carrying that momentum into the 2025 event and making that the BIGGEST and BEST R2R in the event’s history!
Photo by: Fast Focus Photography NW
Trail Line News
2024 Foothills Coalition Board Candidates
We will hold an election on January 25, 2024 to elect new board members. Get to know the candidates here!
David Lee
My wife Carla (61) and I (71) live in Tacoma and are proud parents of four children, two daughters and identical twin sons. We’ve been fit and active all our lives and among our many interests, cycling and travel are two of our favorites and we’ve supported and cycled the Foothills Trails for a long time. We’ve cycled the Pacific Coast Bike Route from Tacoma to Santa Barbara, the Coeur d’Alene Bike Trail, and many other regional bike trails in Washington, Oregon, and California.
We’re also avid backpackers having trekked the 380 km John Muir Trail (Yosemite to Mt. Whitney), the 67 km Timberline Trail (Mt. Hood), and the 153 km Wonderland Trail (Mt. Rainier) twice. Now we’re planning a 1250 km cycling journey from the headwaters of the Rhine River in the Swiss Alps downstream to Amsterdam next summer.
Our volunteering stints include living in Costa Rica, teaching English in Argentina, Ukraine as Peace Corps Volunteers, and at Baan Chivit Mai (Swedish-run NGO providing housing & education to hill tribe children) in Chiangrai, Northern Thailand.
Audrey Pitigliano
I’ve lived in Pierce County all my life from childhood in Steilacoom, to my home in Puyallup since the early 1980’s. My first love and college degree was in Recreation from WSU. I was thrilled when I first heard about the idea to convert the railway and periodically used and supported the trail as it got developed and I have loved every addition.
I worked in Buckley since the early 1980’s and often used the trail during my lunch break or with clients for recreational pursuits. I retired in 2020 and biking, hiking, and walking on the trails was a life saver during COVID and continues to be in my retirement.
I am running for a spot on the FTC Board to help support and sustain all the hard work that has already been done, and to advance more safe connections to our trails/parks across Pierce County. I look forward to using my skills to advocate for equal access to recreational opportunities and programs within the trail system, for persons of all ages, genders, ethnicities, socioeconomic status, and physical/cognitive abilities.
Victoria Lincoln
I’m a lifelong resident of Pierce County and very supportive of projects like this Trail that get people outdoors. I have a degree from Evergreen State College and spent most of my career in Olympia, advocating for local governments in front of the Legislature. It would be a pleasure to be able to serve on this Board and hope my experience in state government can be useful.
The Foothills Trail is one of the jewels of Pierce County. One of my favorite things to do is to ride the Trail on my mountain bike. It’s amazing how many people I see enjoying it – walkers, runners, bikes, skateboards, and strollers, to name a few. I’ve even seen a unicycle along the trail on more than one occasion. It’s gratifying to see the community embrace the trail and all it has to offer.
John Hopkins
I left London, England in my early 20’s to visit my sister in Anchorage, Alaska and ended up staying 15 years. I became an electrician, met my wife and had three children. It was a rags to riches to rags story that ended with us all driving down the Alcan Highway in a brown station wagon with suitcases strapped to the top. We ended up in Puyallup and started an electrical construction company.
All went well until the last recession, but closing the business was a blessing in disguise. It freed up time for treks and climbs throughout the world and to give back to the community. I joined the boards of Arts Downtown and Pierce Conservation District and now serve on multiple committees with other organizations. I currently work with the Foothills Coalition in my position of Chair of Friends of the Riverwalk and founder of the All Along the Riverwalk Arts and Education event, which has successfully showcased our local trails. I would be honored to become a Foothills Rails to Trails Coalition board member.
Robin Partington (running for reelection)
My late husband Don Partington and I first became involved with the Foothills Trail Coalition in 1987 when we volunteered to help staff the Coalition’s booth at the Washington State Fair, accompanied by our then-six month old son, Daniel. Dan is now 35 with a six month old daughter of his own who will soon experience the joy of trails from a jogging stroller.
I enthusiastically support and use urban, rural and wilderness trails. I look forward to working with the Board to further the Coalition’s mission in support of trails and trail users. As a Board member, I have been helping with the capital campaign for the Foothills Trails Doc Tait Pavilion in Buckley, where Dr. Douglas “Doc” Tait founded the Foothills Tails-to-Trails Coalition and where the first mile of the Foothills Trail was completed.
Steve Brown (running for reelection)
I’ve been involved with the Foothills Trail as a volunteer for over 30 years (over half my lifetime). Lately, I have focused on county connections: Foothills Trail north to Sumner and then the Interurban; Yelm to Roy; and of course our favorite, from Mount Rainier to Tacoma using the R2R route.
I also have been spending a lot more time in the Carbon Canyon, which is everything above the town of Wilkeson. It is a great area for hiking, biking, fishing and camping. This is also the access to the northwest corner of Mount Rainier National Park.