Peavine Falls Run honors Birmingham Track Club race designer
Rick Melanson Peavine Falls Run
8.2 miles
July 4, 6:30 a.m. walk, 7 a.m. run
Oak Mountain State Park
Registration Fee: $15
It’s not quite running the Rockies, but participants will experience a course of “straight up and straight down” in the July 4 Rick Melanson Peavine Falls Run.
Set in Oak Mountain State Park, about 600 entries are expected to tackle the 8.2-mile run that reaches a mid-way elevation of 500 ft., race director Alex Morrow said.
“This is an out-and-back course on paved road with a return that includes a 1.2 mile single-track trail detour,” Morrow said. “It’s challenging and it’s a badge of honor to take part, but it’s fun, lots of fun.”
The run-only race begins at 7 a.m. with a walk on the same course at 6:30 a.m., Morrow said. The entry fee for each is $15 and includes a race T-shirt. Registration closes on July 2.
An Independence Day tradition, this is the 34th running of the event, which was founded in 1981 by well-known local runner Rick Melanson, race events coordinator Trish Portuese said. Portuese is a former president of the Birmingham Track Club and its current club historian.
“Rick loved designing courses and, for Peavine Falls, his big innovation was to move the finish line to a new location after the race started, just to keep things interesting,” Portuese said.
Melanson was one of the original members of the BTC when it formed in 1975. An avid runner who excelled in distances from 10K to 50 miles, he turned to biking after requiring several knee surgeries, Portuese said.
“Rick would ride his bike to and from work every day but was as good at competition on the bike as he was as a runner,” she said.
Melanson served on the BTC executive committee and was its road race chairman and equipment manager until his retirement in 2012, she said.
“The Peavine Falls race was dedicated to Rick in 2012 for his long and outstanding work for the BTC, Road Runners Club of America and many races around our state,” Portuese said. “He is one of the well-respected and stable figures within the BTC, forever known for his loving to put hills in his race courses.”
For more information about the Rick Melanson Peavine Falls Run, go to birminghamtrackclub.com.