KALAMAZOO KLASSIC'S MISSION: Promote diversity, community and overall health and well-being while raising funds that benefit individuals with disabilities.
Are you interested in being involved with one of Kalamazoo's premier events? There are outstanding promotional opportunities available for the 2008 Kalamazoo Klassic!
For more information on sponsorship and benefits please call MRC Industries at: 269.343.0747
or e-mail us at: mrcpr@mrcindustries.org
For more information on the Klassic and other racing events, check out the Kalamazoo Area Runners' website.
For more information on sponsorship and benefits please call MRC Industries at: 269.343.0747
or e-mail us at: mrcpr@mrcindustries.org
For more information on the Klassic and other racing events, check out the Kalamazoo Area Runners' website.
A big "Thank You" to all of our sponsors who made the 2008 Klassic possible:
History
Benefitting MRC Industries, Inc.
The Beginnings
In the late 70's the Kalamazoo Track Club was a collection of about 25 serious runners whose focus was training and racing competitively. At the same time the running boom for the average person was sweeping the nation in the wake of Frank Shorter's Olympic Marathon win in 1976 and the popularity of Jim Fixx's best-selling book "The Complete Runner." Joggers were everywhere. With this backdrop, a few members of the Track Club, with Blaine Lam as their spokesperson, proposed that the club pursue a new direction: "Embrace the average runner." The critical vote on the new direction was 13 to 12 in favor of the change and the stage was set for the birth of the Kalamazoo Klassic.
The renovated club, with David Kays as President and Blaine Lam as Vice President/Newsletter editor, captured the local running community with its calendar of regular races, an informative newsletter, and the idea of sponsoring a major road race to be called the Kalamazoo Klassic. The first race was run "on a shoestring," Lam says. "There was minimal sponsorship (Lee's Sports was the main sponsor) and the scoring was done with 3x5 cards."
The front page of the Saturday Kalamazoo Gazette bore a large picture of the start with the caption: "Road Runners a Hardy Breed as They Compete in Rain Today in First Kalamazoo Klassic." That Gazette also contained a picture of President Jimmy Carter running (not in Kalamazoo) and an article on the retirement of Mohammed Ali.
In the late 70's the Kalamazoo Track Club was a collection of about 25 serious runners whose focus was training and racing competitively. At the same time the running boom for the average person was sweeping the nation in the wake of Frank Shorter's Olympic Marathon win in 1976 and the popularity of Jim Fixx's best-selling book "The Complete Runner." Joggers were everywhere. With this backdrop, a few members of the Track Club, with Blaine Lam as their spokesperson, proposed that the club pursue a new direction: "Embrace the average runner." The critical vote on the new direction was 13 to 12 in favor of the change and the stage was set for the birth of the Kalamazoo Klassic.
The renovated club, with David Kays as President and Blaine Lam as Vice President/Newsletter editor, captured the local running community with its calendar of regular races, an informative newsletter, and the idea of sponsoring a major road race to be called the Kalamazoo Klassic. The first race was run "on a shoestring," Lam says. "There was minimal sponsorship (Lee's Sports was the main sponsor) and the scoring was done with 3x5 cards."
The front page of the Saturday Kalamazoo Gazette bore a large picture of the start with the caption: "Road Runners a Hardy Breed as They Compete in Rain Today in First Kalamazoo Klassic." That Gazette also contained a picture of President Jimmy Carter running (not in Kalamazoo) and an article on the retirement of Mohammed Ali.
photo by Kalamazoo Gazette
The 1979 Klassic resulted in a tie between WMU teammates Tom Duits and Bob Lewis in 30:58. Tom Duits is known as the first Michigander to run a sub 4:00 mile and still holds the mile record at WMU.
