08.21.08
btc summer series handicap history
a reader wrote me today and was wondering what the course record was on the course. from the btc website, former driller joel cardoza ran 15:41 in 2006. i seem to remember that this time maybe suspect however.
the reader also inquired about the age of the race. he thought it was a new race but it has been around for awhile. i think it got started in the late 80s and i definitely ran it in the early 90s.
in fact, ten or more years ago it was the last race that i ran for the most part. i won the overall point series and it was my last race i seriously ran. in 2006, my son christopher won the series and it was the first race he ever won.
the btc summer series started out as the darryl easter memorial handicap series. darryl easter died at a young age and left behind several young children and a wife. i ran with darryl and he put on some local races back in the 80s too.
my earliest memories of this series was that it was run in winter and was held on sunday afternoons. the race also started up the road a bit. the finish was uphill near the tunnel where the bike path leads to now.
the bike path didnt exist back then either. the race was up what was called rattlesnake gulch and then back down. it was all uphill and then downhill. the turnaround was almost to the road at the top of the hill. the road the race was on wasnt much of a road.
it was dirt with a lot of rocks and ruts. watching ones footing was key and many an ankle was turned on the old course. it was a pure strength runner’s course back in the day.
later the race moved to tuesday nights and the start was moved too. i still believe it is the hardest 5k course around.
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