Clackamas Community College president runs 1,400 miles across Oregon

Clackamas Community College president runs 1,400 miles across Oregon

Published 3:11 pm Monday, August 25, 2025

Clackamas Community College President Tim Cook traded his bowtie for a Forrest Gump-style beard during his run across Oregon. 

This was a reasonable exchange considering Cook just ran 1,411 miles across Oregon to visit each of the state’s 17 community college campuses. 

How would Cook describe the experience in one word?

President Tim Cook in his office at Clackamas Community College. (Staff Photo: Mac Larsen)

“Hard,” said Cook, with a grin. “It was harder than I thought it was gonna be. I was pretty sure I could do it. What I learned, with the heat and elevation and just getting up every day, it was challenging, physically challenging.” 

The endeavor — which Cook referred to as Running for Oregon Community College students, or ROCCS — started as a sliver of an idea after a colleague completed a bike journey across Oregon. 

Cook, an avid runner who has completed 48 marathons, can  be considered an ultra-marathoner now after completing what amounted to more than a normal marathon every day for 50 days straight. 

And the numbers show the extent of that effort. Cook went through six pairs of running shoes, averaged 27 miles a day and drank approximately 40 gallons of water. 

After he crossed the finish line, Cook had helped raise more than $150,000 to support community college students facing food insecurity and financial hardship. 

Cook’s run began at Treasure Valley Community College in Ontario and ended at Columbia Gorge Community College in Hood River. 

“I would meet people along the way that would talk about their community college experience, or their kids or somebody else’s,” said Cook. “I got several student organizations from across the country that would say, ‘Hey, thanks, we want to elevate it because we appreciate what you’re doing.’” 

A focus on food insecurity

Cook believed the effort would draw attention to the food insecurity challenges faced by many community college students. 

“I was surprised. I didn’t realize it would get as much exposure as it did and people really connecting as much as they did,” said Cook. “I knew that there would be some interest within the community college community, but everywhere we went, it just built.”

Food insecurity is a serious concern for Oregon community college students, who are more than half of the state’s college student population. 

According to a survey by the nonprofit Hope Center, 41% of community college students faced food insecurity in the past month and 52% had trouble paying their rent. 

Food insecurity was accelerated by Covid-19, according to Cook. 

Cook said four years ago students requested moving the school’s food pantry to the front of the campus, leading the school to move it to the welcome center. 

“Everyone loves their community college; people are so proud,” said Cook. “Board members, people that go there, they all wanted me to know how great their college was, how important it is. That’s the way I feel about this one. So it was always charming, and frankly, just wonderful to really go and see how much pride people had.”

Students, college board members, educators and administrators joined Cook at times on his journey. On the leg from Astoria to Portland metro, Oregon Higher Education Coordinating Commission Executive Director Ben Cannon ran alongside Cook. 

Cook said the most difficult part of the journey on foot across Oregon wasn’t the heat or the elevation, although those factors were a nasty combination. Instead he pointed to the challenge of moving along busy highways and the repetitive nature of running all day, every day. 

“I really wanted to do a loop,” said Cook. “But I’d have to go to Treasure Valley twice. It would have been another 200-some miles.” 

Instead, he ended his journey in Hood River at Columbia Gorge Community College, after a triumphant return to CCC on Sunday, Aug. 2. 

Through this ambitious endeavor, Cook saw Oregon in a way that not many other people can say they have.

“Going over the Siskiyous was amazing. Probabxly my favorite part was called the Bear Creek Trail from Ashland to Medford, which is kind of a bike to rails trail. I really enjoyed running through these small towns that I’ve driven through and never stopped to see; that was pretty cool,” said Cook. He paused, then added: “But no, I wouldn’t do it again.”