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Sophomores to defend title
Modified race will try to attract more viewers
Greg Hanneman
News Editor
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One of Case’s oldest traditions, the annual running of the Hudson Relays, will return to campus tomorrow morning with a few changes as part of a new weekend-long program of events.
The race begins behind Adelbert Hall at 9:30 a.m., and will finish at the same place around two hours later.
The Hudson Relays are run each year to commemorate Case’s move from Hudson, Ohio, where the former Western Reserve University was originally located. The original race course ran from the center of Hudson to the rock behind Adelbert Hall here on the campus, but the format was later changed to a relay around campus because of safety concerns. The current course, consisting of five large laps around campus, is divided up into 50 segments of about a half-mile each.
Each of the four undergraduate classes is responsible for putting together a team of runners. A team of alumni members also participates, but is ineligible to win. Official race rules state that each team must have between 42 and 50 runners, and that a minimum of 14 of the 50 legs must be run by a minimum of 10 women. The first leg of the race will be run by a Case faculty or staff member chosen by each class; at the end of the race, the second-to-last segment is run by the class vice presidents, and the class presidents take the last leg around the Case Quad before finishing at Adelbert Hall.
Last year’s race was won by the Class of 2006. The sophomores are again the favorite for this year’s prize, but they may be facing heavy competition from this year’s seniors, who lost last year by just 40 seconds.
“I think we’re [the sophomores’] biggest competition,” said senior class president Kumi Agawa. “It’s nice that they consider us their number one rival.”
Agawa said that her class will field a full team of at least 42 runners, something that other graduating classes in the past have had difficulty doing. The Class of 2004, however, won the relays in 2001 and 2002, and Agawa said interest among her classmates was high again this year, both for running in the race and helping administer it.
Freshman class president Chris Gedos also mentioned the Class of 2006 as the team to beat this year.
“The sophomores are supposed to be pretty good,” he said. “I think if any of us beat the sophomores it will be a victory.”
Gedos said he was confident in his team since the freshman class conducted time trials of around 200 people. He thinks the competitiveness between the two classes was more friendly than fierce, since the freshman and sophomore class officers have worked on projects together earlier in the year.
The sophomore class officers were not available for comments before press time.
The junior class got off to a slow start with recruitment, but will be able to field a full team tomorrow, said class president Katie Kowalski.
“Recruiting … was definitely more difficult than anticipated due to many juniors preparing to take the MCAT, away on co-op, or participating in Junior Year Abroad,” she said. “From what I’ve heard, historically, the junior class always seems to have a harder time forming a team.”
Kowalski thought that the seniors would be “the class to watch” tomorrow morning.
“They have a seasoned team with a number of returning members, and have been working on their strategy for some time now,” she said. “I’m curious to see how the race turns out.”
Colleen Barker-Williamson, the administrator for the Hudson Relays, said that numerous changes have been implemented this year in an attempt to draw more spectators throughout the morning. Barker-Williamson said that, outside of participants, volunteers, and staff members, only about 20 people watch the race each year.
“We’ll never get people out to at least some of it if we don’t change things,” she said. “We’ve brought the race to the people.”
For example, this year’s course has been altered to pass through the center of the north side residential village instead of avoiding it, as was done in previous years. Barker-Williamson that this trims the overall course to about 24.5 miles from the original 26.
Event organizers are also arranging two pancake bake-offs on north side and at the top of the hill on south side. Participants can compete in the pancake-flipping contest or vie for the best-tasting recipe, among other things.
The Hudson Relays are being incorporated into a larger framework of events that spans the entire weekend, Barker-Williamson said. The relays, Springfest, and other events around campus today and tomorrow are being billed as Kale Tyche, Greek for “good luck” – a message Barker-Williamson said was aimed at the departing senior class and creates a bookend to the “Welcome Back” weekend held each fall that celebrates the arrival of a new freshman class.
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