According to old-timers on LetsRun, here's what the road race scene of the 1970s was like

jamin wrote:

$2 to enter local 5K

10 guys under 15:00, wearing trainers

Slowest time is 17:42

1st place prize is a Porsche

Nope. Here's the real answer.

(1) There weren't any 5Ks. Shortest races were 5 miles.

(2) There were 10 guys under 27:00

(3) Slowest time was 40:00

(4) 1st prize was a plastic medal and your name in a local free newspaper

My first race had no shirt or medals. Finishing shoot they called bib numbers someone was writing down times. They handed me a piece of paper with my time on it and place and gave it to someone else. And yes it was in trainers. Distance was a random #.

One of the first medals I got was from the Canadian International Marathon . It was cute they gave you half a medal for doing half the distance. That was cool back then. None for 5s and 10ks. 20 some odd years later the marathon medal for that race is a dinner plate and the half is bigger than my fist.

old shoe wrote:

My first race had no shirt or medals. Finishing shoot they called bib numbers someone was writing down times. They handed me a piece of paper with my time on it and place and gave it to someone else. And yes it was in trainers. Distance was a random #.

My first road race was a "5 miler" around the grounds of the local state hospital. The spectators were the patients looking out windows!

It was the early 70's- my high school cross country coach took us in his station wagon. I was one of the younguns so I had to sit in the "way back".

1978 or so.

$5 on the high end, with a T-shirt.

5K would have one under 15, five or ten before 16. The winner would be racing, a few of the others included the ageless road king guy in 10-year-old racing flats.

They'd take down the finish chute after 20 minutes.

First place would be a certificate for shoes from the local store.

My first 10k was in Wichita Falls, TX, in 1982, in late February.

If memory serves, it was $4 to enter (proceeds went to off-duty cops helping with traffic; whatever was left went to the VFW).

It was billed as a 10k but it was definitely closer to 6 miles—something like 15 guys broke 30:00.

Not a spectator to be seen, although a few local roughnecks showed up after to help tap the keg!

Shorts weren't allowed. You could wear a shirt and gloves and hat, but the race director was adamant about no clothing between the torso and the feet. (A real problem, as it was COLD.)

We were given popsicle sticks at the finish to help out with results later. Back in those days you REALLY had to run through the line. You could beat a guy to the finish, but he'd elbow past you and grab a lower stick if you let up too early.

As people mentioned, the shortest distance was 5 miles. A 5k was rare.

Also, I recall the AG were 10 year groups, not the 5 we have now. Do I have revisionist history? When did the 5-yr AG become popular?

When I got to the finish, I told the King that we'd just won a major battle.

Then I died

runn wrote:

old shoe wrote:

My first race had no shirt or medals. Finishing shoot they called bib numbers someone was writing down times. They handed me a piece of paper with my time on it and place and gave it to someone else. And yes it was in trainers. Distance was a random #.

My first road race was a "5 miler" around the grounds of the local state hospital. The spectators were the patients looking out windows!

It was the early 70's- my high school cross country coach took us in his station wagon. I was one of the younguns so I had to sit in the "way back".

One mental patient to another: "and they call us crazy."

Maybe we need to create a meme Old Running Scene Steve meme which is like the Old Economy Steve meme.

Gets 35th Place in Turkey Trot 5-Miler

23:58

Background is a pic of some guy with an 80s hairdo

Pics from the 1981 Turkey Trot

http://www.runningentertainment.com/runningshots11.html

I probably ran 15 races in the West and Midwest from 1977 - 81. By 81-82 races became more professional and larger so that’s why I keep it there.

Size ranged from a dozen or so up to a couple thousand, latter still a big mass event on the circuit with 20000 or so runners and a lot of hype.

$5 for the race and a t shirt was common. Not so many goodies but you’d get some fruit a drink and maybe some cookies.

Races were pretty competitive with lots of college and post college runners. A 33 10K would get you top 3 at a small race. But at the bigger ones it would take a 29 or even faster. Women were just getting started and a 38 10K was really good and maybe only 1/5 of the entrants were women.

Prizes were nominal. A trophy or medal or $10 to $20 Gift certificate.

Did my first road 5K in 1980 and was about 7th place with a 16:20. No more than 100 or 150 entrants. By mid 80s 5Ks were common but as the lesser event associated with a 10K or 10 mile. 5 mile and 8Ks were more common. And you saw more 20Ks back then.

$5 in 1970 with inflation is $33 dollars today. If you could find a race with no t-shirts and hand timing it would probably cost that much.

THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!! When bagels replaced beer road racing died a little.

The last bastion of beer at races is Louisiana.

good old days wrote:

$5 in 1970 with inflation is $33 dollars today. If you could find a race with no t-shirts and hand timing it would probably cost that much.

There is a race series near me that is chip timed for between 20 and 35 (depending on distance and how soon you register).

Medals for the top 3 only, only freebie is fruit and sports drink.

Breweries were actually title sponsors of races in the 70s and 80s. I directed a 10K and put the word out that we needed a sponsor. Coors was new to the Midwest at the time and opened their checkbook without hesitation. Long sleeve tees, hats, lots of free Coors for participants over 19 (the state drinking age at that time), and my club made three years worth of operating cash. The local Coors distributor also helped to book a live band for the post-race festivities. Runners paid $10 to race a certified downtown course and we had prize money to boot. No 5K, walk, kid's dash, dog jog, color bursts, etc. needed to attract the masses.

The only local 5K event that was staged at the time was a night event under the streetlights sponsored by Stroh's Beer (which no longer exists). Everything else was a 5 mile, 10K, or half marathon. The fields were mostly comprised of people that took running pretty seriously (no costumes, tu-tus, funny hats) and the most entrants were concerned about two things: is the course flat? Is it TAC (predecessor to USATF) certified so that my time is legitimate?

I miss those days compared to our current "Inclusive Family Fun Fair and Kind of Close to 5K Corporate Advertising Event". That'll be $65 if you enter online six months prior to race day, $85 after that. Shirts are only an extra $30!

Jack Leydig’s Nor Cal Running Review from 1975. Jack is one of the sport’s greats.

https://digital.la84.org/digital/collection/p17103coll2/id/5702/rec/13

Ohio River road runners club hosts tons of races that are free for members and under $10 for non members. Just people racing. Get 150-250 people per race. Most distances arent even measured for accuracy.

Ran a "10 miler" last winter on trails ended up running 12.

good old days wrote:

$5 in 1970 with inflation is $33 dollars today. If you could find a race with no t-shirts and hand timing it would probably cost that much.

I just put $5 in 1975 into an inflation calculator and it came back as $23.71 today. But most races I ran in the Seventies had entry fees of under a dollar. Those were races put on by the Road Runners Club. By the end of the decade the sport was getting popular and some bigger races with fees approaching $5 were coming along. The first couple times I ran Boston cost me $2 each time. I just missed the era when entry there was free.