NORTHAMPTON — A little after the turn of the new year, Sue and Don Grant were starting to lose hope. The local couple that in 1987 launched the Northampton Cross-Country Race Series — a weekly Tuesday evening 5K that starts in April each year and goes through late summer — were ready to pass the baton.

“We’ve both been impacted by arthritis, and the series involves a lot of heavy lifting ... literally,” Sue Grant said. “We’ve had a good time doing it, but we figured we better quit while we’re ahead.”

The problem was, nobody seemed eager to take the baton from them.

“People kept telling us how much they loved the 5K series, but nobody offered to take it over,” she said.

Then around Valentine’s Day, the Grants got some love from the Sugarloaf Mountain Athletic Club (SMAC).

SMAC board member Kathie Williams and members Brian Williams and Tom Davidson agreed to take over the cross-country series as a committee, with support from a rotating cast of volunteers who will help with the myriad tasks involved in directing: set up, break down, timekeeping, water, snacks and more.

“We’re excited to keep the cross-country series running strong,” Kathie Williams said.

More than just a weekly race, “It’s a part of our local running history.”

The need for a local series

In the mid 1980s, Don Grant was racing a lot. Unfortunately, that also meant he was driving a lot.

“Springfield, Holyoke, Chicopee ... he started thinking it’d be nice if there was a race series in town so he didn’t have to drive 30 miles to compete,” Sue Grant explained.

He even had a location in mind: the trails through the rolling farm fields and woodlands by the Northampton state hospital where he would often run with friends.

Eventually one of his running buddies called his bluff, telling him: “You keep talking about it. Why don’t you make it happen?”

But first, Don had to clear a few hurdles. To get the OK, he needed to talk to the state hospital, the mayor, the recreation department, and Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School, which was planning to rent the lands when the hospital closed down.

“The good news is they all said yes,” Grant said.

The first race was held in early September, 1987.

“We had seven people, one who got lost!” she said.

The numbers doubled the next week, and again the third week.

“We’ve consistently had double digits ever since,” Grant said.

Living history

Part of the continuing allure of the weekly 5K is the mark the Grants have left on it through their personal touches.

Like the 28 hand-stenciled and painted wooden signs that mark the complex course.

Or the “Race Bucks” handed out to winners granting them free entry to the race the next time they enter — with about a dozen different designs highlighting local running legends.

And perhaps most iconic, the personal record cards.

Anyone who has run the 5K, even once, has a card documenting how they did. Some dedicated racers have more than one. Grant said one regular, Jim Farrick, has 17.

“A lot of runners like looking back and comparing their times, relating how they did to the weather and the other competitors,” Sue Grant said, explaining how the record cards came to be. She was delighted to see people fishing their cards out of the boxes last summer and taking photos of them.

In total, she has at least 5,000 cards, filling numerous boxes.

Some call it an archive, but it’s also a living history.

When asked if any races stood out from their 36-year tenure directing the race, Grant shared two stories.

One was a race on a hot summer evening, when a steer from Smith Voc’s herd broke through the fence across the street, strolled over to the water stop that the Grants’ daughter April was stationed at, and stuck its nose in the bucket of water she was using to refill dixie cups.

Grant happened to be running the 5K that evening, but without her glasses, which would slide off her face when she started to sweat. She remembers wondering out loud why there was a giant dog standing at the water stop. Her daughter informed her that it was a steer that was hogging their water. Eventually Smith Voc students showed up to steer it away.

The second story lives on through the record board that’s on display at every race. One summer, Bob Rosen, a regular at the series, brought an acquaintance of his son’s from Kenya, Philemon Terer.

One of the series’ traditions is to guess your finish time before you start — the person with the most accurate prediction gets a prize.

Terer guessed 15 minutes, ambitious for the hilly, complex course. He finished in 15:10. After the race, Rosen told Grant he thought Terer could break 15 minutes. She was skeptical.

The following week, he came back to try again. “It was a cooler night, and he was familiar with the course,” Grant said.

She was in charge of the timer that night, and just after 14 minutes, she and others volunteering at the finish line saw Terer coming down the straightaway. “We were jumping up and down and screaming for him,” Grant said.

He finished in 14:45 and his record still stands today: the Northampton Cross-Country Series Greatest of All Time.

You can help keep this local running tradition going by participating in, or volunteering for, the Northampton Cross-Country Series 5K, every Tuesday at 6:30 p.m., from April 2 through Aug. 30. Rain, shine, or steers.

Most weeks, Sue and Don Grant will still be there to help keep things on track and cheer runners on, but now as volunteers instead of directors.

For more information, visit: sugarloafmountainathletic.org/Results/northampton-grant-5k-cross-country-races/. 

Bridget Macdonald lives in Northampton and is a member of the Sugarloaf Mountain  Athletic Club.