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Inyokern 10-Mile Run – Saturday, May 10, 2014 Note: Updated May 9, 2014 with additional/corrected race director information. Also, I discovered a few more female times that should have been included in the Under 1:20 list. The upcoming OTHTC Inyokern 10-mile Run will be the 40th edition of this event! That makes it the longest-running of any event that the OTHTC has put on. I gathered some past results and newspaper articles to take a look at how the run has evolved over the years. In addition to hard copies saved from earlier years, I also found some race results in electronic copies of OTHTC’s print newsletter and from website archives. My personal memories span the period from 1979 through 1986, when I ran the event in each of those years. After that, my participation was only occasional, and my personal knowledge lacking. I quickly realized that I had a lot more information about that period when I was regularly running this race than I was able to dig up for more recent years. So mostly, I will try to give my perspective of what the Inyokern 10-mile was like during those years, rather than attempt a comprehensive history. During the late 70’s and 80’s, the running boom was going full steam in Ridgecrest, and the OTHTC put on a number races during the year on the streets of the Naval Weapons Center housing area and in Ridgecrest. The Inyokern 10-mile was arguably the largest of these runs, and race participants spanned the gamut of serious runners, casual runners, high-school track and cross-country team members, and people of all ages active in other sports who, while not training specifically for running, would nevertheless come out and run or run-walk the 10 miles. The run was often a family affair, with kids as young as 9 or 10 joining in. By 1980 the number of participants had swelled to 180, and a dual start time format had been established. The two groups were called Runners and Joggers, with the Joggers starting first. The Runners usually consisted of the more serious runners. The Jogger group was made up of everyone else—less serious runners, walkers, and sometimes serious runners who didn’t want to admit to being serious, or who wanted to get a jump on the inevitable temperature rise as the morning progressed. The tiered start did allow many of the joggers to arrive at Inyokern Park before the most competitive runners, and provided a cheering audience for them at the finish line. Both “runners” and “joggers” were eligible for awards, based strictly on their elapsed time between their start and finish. Separate finish chutes and timekeepers were used to give everyone the appropriate time. However, the lack of strict head-to-head competition did lead to a few interesting situations. One year the female with the fastest time started with the “joggers”, and she finished only 4 seconds faster than the second-place female, who had started in the Runner group. It would have been exciting to see them compete! The last year for which my results show this separate start is 1985. In some later years there has been a separate award category and/or start time for Walkers. A bring-your-own picnic in shady Inyokern Park became a popular post-run social activity. This also served to keep the runners around until the awards could be determined. Runners would bring their own lunches, and the club traditionally provided some form of liquid refreshment. I remember the runners’ punch (I think John Anderson was responsible for the recipe) which consisted of fruit juices and carbonated soda, embellished with some type of alcohol. The course was basically the same as it is now, beginning near the intersection of highway 395 and old 395, and following the old 395 route into Inyokern. A left turn led to the finish line on the south edge of Inyokern Park. The course was—and probably still is-- actually not quite 10 miles long. I think it was closer to 9.8 miles, but that was before Garmin watches. It was never a priority to make it a full 10 miles, and even so, adding more distance would require more turns near the end, just when you might want to have a full head of steam as you approach the finish. An out and back course, starting and finishing at Inyokern Park, was also used for a few years in more recent times. So if you want to compare a time on this course with another 10-mile road course, you should adjust for the distance. I always enjoyed the downhill start, even though there is the potential to get lured into a too-fast pace. There can be a headwind over the first few miles, where the prevailing wind from the southwest whips around the north end of a ridge. If not immediately apparent, you can start to notice that head wind after the euphoria of the first mile wears off. But if that’s the case, you know that once you get around the corner and head north, the effect of the headwind will fade, and you may even be helped by a tailwind. The event was pretty competitive, even attracting some out-of-town runners. Some fast times were posted by both local and out-of-town participants. The best times (for years for which I have records) were posted in 1977. Marvin Rowley (from Lancaster, I believe) won in 52:22, and Susie Sanchez posted a winning female time of 59:51. That’s the only female time under an hour in the records I have. Notable among the out-of town competitors was Danny Contreras, a track coach from UC Riverside. Contreras won in 1978, then in 1980 (in 57:11) and 1981. Contreras brought along a protégé, Denise Bedford, who dominated the womens’ field in 1981, 82, and 83. But in 1982, local runner Bill Wilson narrowly defeated Contreras with a 55:14 finish. Wilson is an Aussie who was working as a chemist at NWC (as it was then called) on a fellowship. He remained in the area for several years before returning to Australia, and would win again in 1986. Perhaps the most competitive finish occurred in 1983. Ridgecrest runner Bob McDiarmid, an ex-Navy SEAL, narrowly beat another local, Gill Cornell, 55:57 to 55:59. And local Navy man Bill McNabb outpaced a returning Contreras for third place, by just one second, at 57:02. Among the female competitors, Ridgecrest runners Suzanne Haney and Jerry Mumford finished one-two in 1980, 1:10:27 to 1:10:31. This result was someone controversial because the two had started in separate groups, so that they were not afforded a head-to-head finish. Although out-of town runners did garner many of the first-place awards in those years, the competition that they brought to our race helped pull many local runners to faster times. Local runners who have turned in times under the hour mark include:
Tom McMahon served as president of the OTHTC at some point in the late 70’s or early 80’s before leaving the area. Bob McDiarmid would reduce his attention to competitive running. He taught at Pierce School for many years. Gill Cornell began to focus on ultra distances and went on to do well in races like Western States and the Badwater to Mt. Whitney run (when it officially went all the way to the summit of Mt. Whitney!) Tom Rindt turned in several sub-one hour times, as did John Stoessel and Joe Oliver. Jan Barglowski, Howard Miller and Ron Ryan were BHS students who turned in excellent finish times in this race. Frank Freyne was very active in the OTHTC before moving to the Riverside area. He was race director for runs such as the President’s Day 8-mile Prediction Run and the Rattlesnake Relay (3 x 3-miles) for several years. Norm Neiberlein moved to Reno and told friend and OTHTC member Dave Rugg about an interesting 7-person relay around Lake Tahoe. In 1982 Rugg led a team of OTHTC members to that race, and OTHTC participation continued into the early 90’s. One year we fielded five teams! The DeCelle Lake Tahoe Memorial Relay still exists—check it out! http://www.laketahoerelay.com/ Some notable Inyokern 10 results for a few now-veteran runners still active in OTHTC events:
Although Mike Mumford won the race in 2000, his 1989 time was faster. I’m sure Scotty was into his 50’s by the time he ran the 1983 race.
Among the female runners, some locals posting times under 1:20 are listed below.
There have been a number of race directors for the Inyokern 10 over the years. Scotty and Betty Broyles headed up the event for several years during the 80’s. John Anderson directed the race at least one year. My partial list of other RDs includes Rick Miller and Mark McKinney in 2000, Larry and Elaine Riendaeu in 2003, Sig Nakashima and the Pack Rats in 2005-2006, Sher Davis in 2011, Jason and Megan Zehendner in 2012, and Maria Coit and Olivia Zade in 2013. Amanda Hilton and the Zehendners take over RD duties for 2014. After the 80’s interest in road races in the local area declined, as participation shifted to trail running, especially to the ultra distances, and to other sports. Another challenge to the Inyokern run was the proximity of the Wild Wild West Marathon and 10-mile near Lone Pine. That event had been held in mid-April, and OTHTC runners could run both in Lone Pine and in the Inyokern 10-mile. One year we sent a pretty big contingent to Lone Pine and came away with a large number of their 10-mile age group awards. The following year the Wild Wild West runs had been moved to the first weekend in May, the same weekend as the Inyokern run. We wondered about a connection! The chart shows the number of participants in the Inyokern 10-mile over the years, for those years for which I have information.
Participation declined into the 20’s for several recent years, but that trend appears to be reversing. The 2013 run saw 44 finishers, and 2014 promises to lure an even larger group. This year’s Inyokern 10-Mile will be a benefit for the Burroughs High Cross Country and Track and Field teams. Preparations for the May 10 event are in full swing. |
