The DMR Replacement Run

The cancellation of the Devil Mountain Run did not prevent dozens of people getting together on the first Sunday in May to run a race in Danville.  Forward Motion Sports at 432 Hartz Avenue did a wonderful job of hosting an ad hoc Fun Run (being very careful not to use the name "Devil Mountain Run") and many veteran Devil Mountain Runners enjoyed the chance to reminisce and then run and then just hang out with their fellow runners for a while.

Since the race, I have been contacted by potential sponsors who would love to get the Devil Mountain Run going again.  Hopefully, Children's Hospital will agree to loan out the name to another charitable beneficiary.  You will find pictures at my website DevilMountainRun.com.

2012 Devil Mountain Run Canceled

The 10k race that has been held every year in Danville since May 1978 has been canceled.  The charity that has put on the race as a fundraiser for all these years, Children's Hospital in Oakland, simply feels it is no longer an effective means of raising money.  We in the Class of '79 had two opportunities to run it while we were still attending San Ramon High.  I ran both those years (and then for another 32 years, as well!).

It was nice for me to be able to "go back in time" in a sense as I was still doing the same thing I had done all those years ago.  Growing up in Alamo was kind of like growing up in a small town, although it really was just part of the huge San Francisco Bay Area and all the suburbs.  Coming back "home" to do the run gave me the illusion that the "small town" experience still existed in Danville.  

I am hoping that we can keep the race going, but I'm depending on my Danville friends to contact the right people in the community to make that happen.  I've contacted race officials from here in Maryland, but to get the race going again, we'll need a local person to do the hard work of meeting city officials and coordinating with other groups.  And I have my website dedicated to the Devil Mountain Run, which will be hopefully be useful as well.

2010 Devil Mountain Run T-Shirt page

My last post was written two days after our baby boy came home. Yes, a new baby has definitely curtailed blogging time. So have some other family matters that came up in March.

Today, I wanted to post a link to a new web page I just made. I'm getting ready to run my 33rd consecutive Devil Mountain Run in early May, so I thought I'd create a website with old Devil Mountain Run shirts. This site has about 20 scanned DMR logos, flipped into a miror image for use as iron-on patches. Check it out if you want to re-create an old shirt.

Also, this year runners can help make more money for Children's Hospital when supporters donate at our DMR participant page.

An unofficial mini-reunion

My 32nd Devil Mountain Run has come and gone. It was a successful weekend, despite the unusual May rains that accompanied my visit. Saturday was probably the highlight as Will, Rick R., Bob R., Chris, and I all got together in San Francisco for the evening. We also connected with Rick T. via cellphone who was on board the Pacific Princess Cruise Ship in dock at Pier 29 (or close to there). So, whether there is a real reunion or not this year, at least the six of us got together. We all go back to Rancho Romero Elementary School all the way back to at least 1972.

The 10k race was wet and rainy but I finished in my usual 9 minute a mile pace. What I find most interesting is to look at the results of the race by age groups. I started running this thing when I was 17 and a whole bunch of other people my age also ran that year. But this year, just like other recent years, there were only about 2 or 3 runners under the age of 18 doing the 10k. Not that these 10k runs don't get participants -- they do. But they tend to be older nowadays.

Bob R.'s daughter will graduate from SR this June -- Class of 2009. How old are we? Can you imagine what you would have thought in 1979 if someone came up to you and said, "I graduated from SR in 1949. " We'd have thought, "Man, that's a long time ago!"

I understand that the large gym has been taken down and will be replaced by a new and modern facility. I haven't walked around our old school since 2004, so I suppose much has changed. Sad in some ways, but even in 1975-79, we knew that we were in old facilities. And with the wealth of the area, it was inexcusable for them not to modernize the school. But, for purely nostalgic and wholly unrealistic reasons, it would have been nice for me to keep everything the same.

One last thing I noticed about the Class of 2009's group photo. Apparently, this year's Senior Class is somehow even less diverse than the Class of '79 was. Why was I surprised? I don't know --probably because I live in a part of Maryland with a broad variety of ethnic and racial backgrounds represented in my town. But that's okay. That's just the way the demographics have worked out. Everyone is free to live wherever they can afford to live. Alamo and Danville are great places to live. If I could have afforded it, I would have loved to move back there.

Been Away From The Blog

January was a month which was bookended with unusually bad sicknesses for me and some members of my family. Fortunately, all has been well since then. February was spent in doing home improvements. Anyway, I haven't heard anything about the 30 Year Reunion, and I haven't really had any new plans for the website. So, that explains my silence.

I will be in Danville for the 32nd (and my 32nd as well) Devil Mountain Run 10K race. It's on May 3rd at 8 AM.

So, I'll see Bob and Rick Riley. Hopefully Will and Rich Tauchar as well as Scot Bisson, Bill Buch and Brian Robinson. Maybe Scott Shields or Jay Briggs?

Hope to have some new news to report soon!