A homecoming on the trails

For two generations now, Memphians have been participating in the city’s oldest footrace–the Overton Park Five Mile Classic. Started in 1974 by University of Memphis high jumper Don Greer and several of his fraternity brothers, the race was originally a way for high school and college athletes to tune up before the fall competition season began.

Through the decades, the race hasn’t changed much–it still uses old-school manual scoring, benefits a local nonprofit (today, Overton Park Conservancy), and attracts legendary runners from around the country. Olympic medalists like Frank Shorter and Boston Marathon winners like Bill Rodgers love coming to Memphis because Overton Park reminds them of the places they grew up running.

For locals, the event is like a homecoming, says Barry Roberson of Breakaway Running, who has helped to organize the event for years. And while the race has remained consistent, the park has changed. “I remember running when you didn’t even know where you were putting your foot down,” he says. Regular trail maintenance, and the Conservancy’s removal of invasive privet shrubs, has made the course easier to prepare. So has the availability of modern methods of course-marking. Don remembers riding through the forest in the middle of the night, throwing out flour to mark the route. By the time he returned in the morning, “the flour was gone and there were a bunch of fat squirrels laughing from a tree.”

At the race’s peak, participation was capped at 500 runners because the trails were so narrow. In those days, the Memphis racing calendar was much more sparse; today, more than 90 official events a year mean that the Classic no longer maxes out the trails. But for the runners who have been coming for four decades, it remains a chance to run with old friends and welcome the next generation to a course that’s part of Memphis history.