Under perfect sunny skies and a nice temp of around 68-70 degrees, hundreds of runners, walkers and supporters gathered in Downtown Burien near Town Square Park for the Brat Trot & Oktoberfest fundraiser on Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023.
First place runners included Cameron for men and Andrea for women.


For the kids 1k, the top runners were Angela and Brooks.
Participation/Fundraiser Up Over Last Year
A total of 718 runners registered this year, an increase of more than 200 participants over last year’s 515 – a +38% increase.
Overall, the event raised $37,210, which is a +79 percent increase over last year when they raised $20,847!
Videos
Below are two videos of the start of the race – the first is a slow-motion overhead video as shot by Scott Schaefer using an Insta360 camera on a long pole – do you see yourself or someone you know? (running time 5-minutes, 25-seconds):
The second is a 4K slow-motion shot from a different angle:
Photos
Below are photos from the Oktoberfest, courtesy Lainey Poelzer of Clover Laine Photography (click arrows or swipe to view slideshow):
New Course This Year
Also, a new course was run this year, with the start/finish line on SW 152nd Street near Burien Town Square:

Increase in Participation
There was also a big increase in Team participation, including teams from:
- Pain Science Physical Therapy (also a sponsor)
- Counterforce Taekwondo Burien
- Centro Neighborhood Kitchen (sponsor)
- Soundview Strength
- bodySTRONG (sponsor)
- Hazel Valley Elementary
- HPS College & Career Team
- Normandy Park Swim Club
They also had great Highline Public Schools participation with teams from:
- HPS Cabinet and Superintendent Ivan Duran
- District Social Work team
- HPS Communications team
- Teams from:
- Bow Lake Elementary
- Highline High School Cross Country
- Midway Elementary
- Madrona Elementary
- White Center Heights Elementary
- Highline High School Alumni and Friends
Overall team competition winners were Soundview Strength, winning a $500 team party at Elliott Bay Brewing Co..
The school affiliation contest winner was Highline High School, with nearly 100 affiliated runners – their prize is $500 for the school/PTA.
Full Sponsor list:
- Alaska Airlines
- Burien Chevrolet
- Burien Toyota
- HMSHost (also Root Beer Garden sponsor)
- Pain Science Physical Therapy
- Highline Education Association
- Virginia Mason Franciscan Health
- Lavish Roots
- bodySTRONG
- Enviromech
- Elliott Bay Brewing Co.
- Treat Cookies
- Centro Neighborhood Kitchen
- The B-Town Blog
More info on this wonderful local fundraiser is here.
You Can Still Donate
You can also donate to the Highline Schools Foundation here, or directly to our Jack Mayne Journalism Scholarship here.