By Rich Castro
The BRR Summer Track Series was a natural extension of the BRR membership and the group’s passion for the sport. The first session of what would later evolve into the Track Series took place at the Centennial Junior High track in the summer of 1978. Local runners asked me what else I did in my training besides longer runs, so I invited them to join me for an interval workout of repeat 220’s on a Tuesday evening. Everyone seemed to like it, so after that, Tuesday/Thursday sessions became a fixture for the BRR in the coming months. In those days, many of our athletic and social endeavors took place at local tracks, including The Meet of Miles, The 100 Mile Relay, the Beer Relays, and The One Hour Challenge as a fundraiser for the CU track renovation.
1979 On Your Marks
In 1979, the track meets were at Boulder High School and cost just 25 cents per event.
Also in the summer of 1978, I was competing in some All-Comers meets in Denver, so I did a few time trials at Boulder High and Potts Field to prepare. As more runners started joining my sessions, I added some formal time trials. Later, I organized a meet of mile races for the group. Then the next summer, in 1979, some of the members with track backgrounds suggested that we have a few summer meets of our own.
Things came together nicely. I had the personal contacts to get people to facilitate the meets, plus I still had the keys to Potts Field after being a CU coach from ‘71-‘78. The BRR members who were the primary catalysts in getting the meets going were two brothers, Conrad and John Truedson. Conrad ended up living in Eugene, Oregon, aka Tracktown USA, and is still a huge track fan. While the Truedson Brothers helped get everything off the ground, the person who added structure, professionalism, and organization was Dan Pierce. Dan served as the officiating coordinator at the meets until very recently.
45 Years and Still Going
Rich Castro getting some strides in with his young son, Antonio, at Boulder High in 1984.
In the ‘80’s, once the meets were well-established, about 30-40 on average runners would show up. At that time, only adults raced, but many would bring their kids along to watch. Running events were the 440, 880, and the Mile, including a meet dedicated to just the Mile. After a few years, we added field events, starting with the long jump, then shot put and high jump. Personally, I enjoyed running the mile at our meets. I even broke five minutes for over 25 straight years.
Initially the track meets were for BRR Members only, but it wasn’t long before other runners in the area asked to be included, and the Series quickly evolved into its current format. Like today, we had people of all ages and abilities. It’s pretty neat the Boulder Road Runners still provides the unique community experience of the All-Comer’s Meets. That’s 45 years of track tradition…and still going!