BY THE TIME the 213 runners had crossed the finish line in the inaugural race in 1973, the Charleston Distance Run already had distinguished itself as something worth remembering. On reflection, we can look back now and call it a historic day.

 The race's grand marshal was Jesse Owens, quite a runner himself and, in fact, the most celebrated figure in U.S. track and field history. The previous day, Owens had spoken at a Civic Center luncheon, where he reminisced about an old adversary, Adolph Hitler, and had conducted a track clinic at the Daniel Boone Hotel, a few blocks down the street. 

Another notable was Dave Wottle, a former Bowling Green University runner who had won the Olympic 800 meters a year earlier, rallying dramatically in Munich and finishing in 1:45.6. Wottle joined Owens for an appearance at the Daniel Boone.

The race, a Don Cohen creation, started in front of the old Civic Center and worked its way down Virginia Street and thereby introduced a tradition that, like Owens, is a part of our Distance Run heritage. Every Saturday morning during the Labor Day weekend, the 15-mile race has begun pretty much in the same spot.

But beginning on the Labor Day weekend of 2009, the race will have a new course that will begin on Kanawha Boulevard in front of the Capitol and move west, breaking a 36-year tradition. Not that a break with tradition is a bad thing. The new course actually makes good sense.

Starting the race at the Capitol is a natural, especially considering that 30 percent of the runners are out-of-staters and another 25 percent are from outside of Kanawha and its contiguous counties. The new course will finish at its customary Laidley Field location and will still include the distinctive five-mile stretch through South Hills. And, incidentally, it will eliminate the hazardous Pennsylvania Avenue intersection near the interstate ramps on the West Side.

The inspiration to redesign the course came from first-year race director Aaron Allred and committee member Debbie Kay Munsey.

Allred, who works at the Capitol as legislative manager and auditor, sees the public-relations value, as well as convenience, in the redesign. He also thinks it's a good idea to schedule Friday night's pre-race activities in the Capitol rotunda and Saturday's banquet on the Capitol grounds, weather permitting.

"The most beautiful building in West Virginia is the state Capitol,'' said Allred, "and by holding the functions there on Friday night and Saturday, we're really going to be able to showcase the best of West Virginia to those people who are coming from out of state and out of town and even those people in Charleston who never really spent time in the Capitol.''

The changes, said Allred, may help reverse a decline in race participation. At the peak of the national running boom, the 15-mile race attracted 1,847 runners in the 1988 race, but the numbers have been falling steadily. The 2008 total for the 15-mile and 5-kilometer races barely exceeded 1,000.

BY THE TIME the 213 runners had crossed the finish line in the inaugural race in 1973, the Charleston Distance Run already had distinguished itself as something worth remembering. On reflection, we can look back now and call it a historic day.

 The race's grand marshal was Jesse Owens, quite a runner himself and, in fact, the most celebrated figure in U.S. track and field history. The previous day, Owens had spoken at a Civic Center luncheon, where he reminisced about an old adversary, Adolph Hitler, and had conducted a track clinic at the Daniel Boone Hotel, a few blocks down the street. 

Another notable was Dave Wottle, a former Bowling Green University runner who had won the Olympic 800 meters a year earlier, rallying dramatically in Munich and finishing in 1:45.6. Wottle joined Owens for an appearance at the Daniel Boone.

The race, a Don Cohen creation, started in front of the old Civic Center and worked its way down Virginia Street and thereby introduced a tradition that, like Owens, is a part of our Distance Run heritage. Every Saturday morning during the Labor Day weekend, the 15-mile race has begun pretty much in the same spot.

But beginning on the Labor Day weekend of 2009, the race will have a new course that will begin on Kanawha Boulevard in front of the Capitol and move west, breaking a 36-year tradition. Not that a break with tradition is a bad thing. The new course actually makes good sense.

Starting the race at the Capitol is a natural, especially considering that 30 percent of the runners are out-of-staters and another 25 percent are from outside of Kanawha and its contiguous counties. The new course will finish at its customary Laidley Field location and will still include the distinctive five-mile stretch through South Hills. And, incidentally, it will eliminate the hazardous Pennsylvania Avenue intersection near the interstate ramps on the West Side.

The inspiration to redesign the course came from first-year race director Aaron Allred and committee member Debbie Kay Munsey.

Allred, who works at the Capitol as legislative manager and auditor, sees the public-relations value, as well as convenience, in the redesign. He also thinks it's a good idea to schedule Friday night's pre-race activities in the Capitol rotunda and Saturday's banquet on the Capitol grounds, weather permitting.

"The most beautiful building in West Virginia is the state Capitol,'' said Allred, "and by holding the functions there on Friday night and Saturday, we're really going to be able to showcase the best of West Virginia to those people who are coming from out of state and out of town and even those people in Charleston who never really spent time in the Capitol.''

The changes, said Allred, may help reverse a decline in race participation. At the peak of the national running boom, the 15-mile race attracted 1,847 runners in the 1988 race, but the numbers have been falling steadily. The 2008 total for the 15-mile and 5-kilometer races barely exceeded 1,000.

"We'd like to get back to the 1,500 to 1,700 participants we had in the 15-mile run back in the early '90s,'' said Allred. "We needed to try something. And if this pays off, it will pay off in the second year when people from out of state go back and tell their friends there's a great race in Charleston, West Virginia, that has all these activities at this absolutely beautiful facility. That's the hope.''

Another advantage is that, by starting at the Capitol, the 15-mile and 5-K runners and the walkers will start at precisely the same time, using all four lanes of the Boulevard for the first few blocks. The sight of 1,500 participants lurching forward will give the event a more imposing sendoff, much like the old days on Virginia Street.

Allred and the committee also are open to scheduling the race at a later date to avoid conflicts with the Parkersburg Half-Marathon, which is two weeks before Labor Day, and a half-marathon in Virginia Beach, Va., which coincides with the Distance Run. In recent years, both races have siphoned off runners who otherwise might run here.

The 2009 race, Allred emphasized, will be on the same day as always and, if he and the committee eventually choose to reschedule the race, they will make it later in the year to stay away from summer heat and humidity.

It should also help that the race's South Hills section will not begin until the three-mile mark instead of its usual one-mile mark, giving the course a bit more variety. And with the start at the Capitol and the finish at nearby Laidley Field, it's more spectator-friendly.

Keeping Laidley as the finish line is especially important.

"When I talked with other runners,'' said Allred, "the one thing they wanted to keep was the classic Olympic marathon-type finish at Laidley Field where you come onto the track and run three-quarters of a lap over to the finish line.''

The whole idea of a redesigned course, in fact, has been well received. "I haven't talked with a single runner that disliked the idea,'' said the new race director.

Reach Mike Whiteford at                  304-348-7948 or mikewhitef...@wvgazette.com.