The Great Race Returns to Former Glory

I was Head Resident of the Eckles Hall housing staff in 1967 when Mohamed Alli was at the top of his game. For fun, we staged a mock boxing match between Dave Baer and Bob Hack. (There was no physical punching just pantomiming.) Involving many of the Eckles Hall residents, we made a boxing ring with ropes and assembled cardboard boxes to look like a large TV camera. A dozen people dressed up as the press, and we issued press passes. They brought cameras with flash bulbs to create the effect. Everyone played their part, which made it fun. So many turned out, that we didn’t have enough room. Watching through the windows was the best seat in the house.

Everyone talked about the mock match for weeks. So, I decided to organize something that would include the students, faculty and residents of Silver City, something that we all could play.

As a young boy, I had participated in the Soap Box Derby. We had drivers, judges and sponsors. Why not try a race where we got students to build race cars, Silver City businessowners to sponsor the cars, and WNMU faculty to be the judges.

Prior to a Housing Department staff meeting with WNMU Housing Director and Mustang Basketball Coach Jim Smith, I met with him by myself, sharing my Soap Box Derby idea. Jim suggested rather than just a downhill race, it be a race all over the campus, where we had the drivers coast down the hills and get pushed up hills by teammates. We both started adding ideas as our excitement grew out of control. We’d begun laughing when Jim said, “Wait! We can call it The Great Race!” Both our eyes opened wide; we knew we were on to something.

Just then, the other Head Residents came into the room, and Jim and I relayed our idea. I think that was the longest, most exciting meeting we ever had. The ideas just kept coming.

Dick Wert was from Indianapolis, Indiana, and a regular at the Indianapolis 500. He said, “At the end of the Indianapolis 500, the winner drinks milk from a glass bottle and also kisses the Queen of the Race.” So, if we adopted that tradition, that meant we needed a queen, which meant we need to hold a pageant and choose a queen. Of course, having a queen would necessitate a parade down the main street of town. Then, we would need to build floats and recruit the college and local high school bands to participate. Plus, we’d want to showcase all the cars in the race at the parade.

I am writing all this so you can understand how fast we were thinking.

We had to get campus clubs to want to build cars. We also needed local businesses to sponsor Great Race events and of course sponsor the construction of cars in exchange for their names on the sides. We had to have the cars inspected by local city engineers to make certain they could be driven. (This was mostly to encourage more Silver City residents’ participation in the race.) Once the cars were inspected, we had to have the cars impounded until the morning of the race to prevent others from tampering with them. Silver City Police officers and Campus Police stood guard overnight.

You get the idea of how we created Great Race and ensured lots of participants.

We wanted people in Grant County to attend the race, so we had fliers printed with a coupon for free Coca-Cola. We didn’t pass them out by hand; we had them dropped from an airplane over the most populated areas.

We were interviewed on the local radio and featured in newspaper articles, even in El Paso.

We ran Betting Odds sheets, even though we had no idea people were gambling on the race.

Every racing team had to have a driver, so each driver went to the school nurse for a physical examination to make certain they were fit to drive. (Everyone at that age was fit, so it was a joke examination, but it got the school nurse to participate.) Plus, we had the Driver’s Education Instructor give each driver a written examination.

In a race, you must have pit stops, of course. We decided that at one stop, the crew must change the tires, swapping them front to back and back to front with three professors observing. At the next pit stop, the drivers had to get out of their car and do 10 pushups. (Three additional faculty judged that.)

You get the idea?

Since this was to be an important event, we had to invite the Governor of New Mexico. And he came. (Thank goodness his son was a student at WNMU.)

To determine what position the cars should be in at the start of the race, we had to have a time trial. That also meant recruiting timers, flag wavers, etc. from Silver City. We couldn’t leave anyone out!

The night before the race, we had a dinner in The Cooler, our student union building at the time. All the sponsors and team members (each car had 10) were present. It was the first time they all saw the racecourse. Up until that time, only the commission knew the course. There were unexpected obstacles, like a steep hill leading to a mud hole.

By the way, there was an “Official Stamp” that marked all the paperwork to make certain it was “official,” even though it actually meant nothing.

Early the next morning, all the teams walked the racecourse for the first time and decided where and how many pushers they wanted to place at different spots along the course. This meant during the race, some of the pushers, even if exhausted, had to move to their next positions to push.

Just before the start, I went on the roof of The Cooler and looked down. I couldn’t believe the view: more people than I’d ever seen on campus. All the commissioners were dressed in their “official” shirts, as were judges and sponsors. The Dean of Student Affairs was the “official” starter who waived the “official” starting flag. All the cars were lined up two-by-two in their positions. The band played the National Anthem, and I think we even had an invocation.

The cars started coasting down the hill, but one was too far ahead, so we had to have a restart. That added to the excitement. People of all ages were running all over the racecourse like mad.

At the end of the race, the person who waived the victory flag was none other than the University President. This was really something, as he never was out in the public eye. When the winner crossed the finish line, his goggles were immediately smeared with grease so he’d look just like the Indianapolis 500 winner. The car was held up by the teammates with the driver still inside. Finally, the driver drank the milk and kissed the queen.

Even weeks after The Great Race, our excitement didn’t die off.

As per Jim Smith’s suggestion, we had a World Premier of The Great Race using footage from the inaugural event. The auditorium was new at that time. We had everyone dress formal, renting every tuxedo in the entire county, Deming and Lordsburg. Champagne glasses were filled (with apple juice) for toasts, and the show began in a packed auditorium.

That was all in 1967. The Great Race has continued at WNMU for 51 continuous years, propelled by the enthusiasm of students at Western New Mexico University.

When I return for the Great Race, I like to just stand in the background and watch everyone, because that is what it is all about: a great time for all.