In less than two weeks, The Mid-Michigan Track Club will hold its annual Tombstone Ten workout in Mt Hope Cemetery. Subtract the number of years ago the person penning this article came upon this earth, and they still lead by one. One is also the number of times that I have run in this event. Yet to date, it is my most anticipated run on their schedule.
Wanting to know more about its history, I emailed Gordon Schafer, who coordinates most of the workouts, and as far as I can tell is one of the founding members. I asked if he would share some of the history of this event. He graciously responded, and I feel that his words would be better off passed on directly on to you, the reader, rather than through an interpretor.
Gordy writes…
The group as a club has been running together since 1967. It was formed by a few graduate students at MSU who mutually wanted an opportunity to run, race, and compete after their high school and college track days were over. A weekly, low cost level program became the solution and the Mid-Michigan Track Club was spawned. Its goals were to be an occasion for meeting new running friends, exchanging training information, and creating a stage for racing since their were very few all comers and adult running events available in the Great Lakes region in those days…
In those early years the small band of weekly runners decided to have a late winter long run. Because of the threat of inclimate weather, a 10 miler was deemed long enough as opposed to fall or spring 15 or 20 mile runs. The third Saturday was picked and has been scheduled the same every year since. Because the roads may still have snow plow banks it was decided to run at Mt Hope Cemetery using the same almost periphera 1.5 mile loop that we still use today.
Initially in 1975 it was just a Saturday club run of 10 miles with the site listed as Mt Hope Cemetery, it was not yet called the Tombstone X. Also in those days we started at the Mt Hope entrance and ran the loop 6 plus times counter-clockwise. Thus that steep little hill in the southwest corner was a downhill and so steep it was hard to run under control. Combined with the ninety degree right hand turn at the bottom it made it even worse to brake and turn. In February it often had a frozen puddle at the bottom that lent to more than one wipe out coming off the hill.
Probably the second year a good age group runner and engineer from Oldsmobile named Walt Long provided ribbons for the run and named it the Tombstone X. Later, homemade Tombstone shaped plaques were handed out. That blossomed into runners from out of town coming to compete, especially those from Flint and Detroit where they both had running clubs.
After opening up more land for burials in the 80′s, the cemetery became quite busy, and the group moved the run to Potter Park, running 10 one mile flat loops. Eventually the burials eased , and in 2003 MMTC moved back into the cemetery. Having grown used to the one mile loops, they altered the course to its current south end location to keep the loop distance intact. A further benefit is that the steep hill is now run in the opposite direction, thus eliminating that treacherous downhill hard right hander. You might however, wish you were running it downhill by the time you have ascended it for the tenth time.
If you have never run with the Mid-Michigan Track Club, the Tombstone Ten is as good an introduction that you could find. Even if you are not up to doing all 10 miles, you are more than welcome to do however many feel comfortable. It remains one of the most popular workouts on their schedule, having 35 runners in 2009, and 49 in 2010 respectively. The current course record was set in 2009, run in 55:02.
So come on out to Mt. Hope cemetery on February 19th, and join MMTC for a run amongst the tombstones.
