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On a new path.

Article Excerpt
Byline: Chris Hansen The Register-Guard

For more than a decade, participation rates in the Butte to Butte road race have increased as steadily as the annual 10-kilometer's grueling first-mile climb up the Donald Street hill in south Eugene.

From 1,700 competitors in 1992 - the first year Northwest Event Management began coordinating the Fourth of July race - to the approximately 3,500 that competed last summer in a race won by former Olympian Nick Rogers, the Butte to Butte has continually grown in size, popularity and stature.

"We've increased our record highs every year for the past five or six years," Northwest Event Management's Tom Jordan said.

Competitive running in Eugene, on the other hand, hasn't aged nearly as well in the 40-plus years since Oregon track and field icon and Nike co-founder Bill Bowerman ignited a jogging craze in the early 1960s.

The movement helped turn Eugene into a running mecca where individuals of all abilities could randomly find themselves running alongside some of the nation's top distance runners during a morning workout.

Once home to numerous road races that routinely drew 2,000 competitors, Eugene now hosts only a handful of well-attended races throughout the year with none even coming close to the numbers the Butte to Butte puts up.

And yet, with three successful local running-only retail stores, a thriving club and group-run scene, and miles upon miles of accessible running...

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