OK, sometimes it was just a long Saturday night, chasing other things, and, failing in that endeavor, strapping on the shoes and getting it behind us.
The ORIGINAL course was actually designed by Gene Bruner, as much as Gene actually planned anything. He came by my house, or stopped me in the street, or something like that, one day, and said he wanted to try a long run. So, we took off on my normal 7-mile route, and Gene convinced me that he knew just where to go to elongate the course, and presto, we had a 10-mile run course. Of course, we never measured it: it seemed like 10 miles, though.
ORIGINAL Course: Green Springs Park. Up 5th St, often to see co-eds on their way home (after all, it's Sunday morning) Turn right on the street Gene Bruner lived on, 3 houses from campus. Stop in the street and yell "Julie, let Gene come out and play!" until a very pretty lady with big eyes and sandy blond hair opened the upstairs window and calls down, "take him." That was the "mile mark." Head towards the river from Gene's house; at the river, turn left. Follow the river until the street turns back towards 1st street. At the corner on the right is the white house with the dog that was always on the roof.
Up 1st past the post office, turn left on Pitt Street. Go past the little store with the vacant lot by it. Usually, there is a wino or two standing in the shade. (Once, a man ran out of there with a gun, trying to stick in down his pants. He turned and parallelled me on Pitt Street. I think he was faster, and I wondered if that gun would go off and end his lineage.) Go past the half-way house with the man out front who had a tracheotomy tube. He always waved.
Turn right on Dickinson, past Diener's Bakery, the smell of sugar driving you wild. Continue out Dickinson past the Dickinson House restaurant, pancake and greasy heaven, cops and night people, some still in their lingerie. Continue out Dickinson, on broken sidewalks, past Piggly Wiggly, coldest beer in town, then left on Memorial and cut back on a side street Phillip Rowan's first house, (the traffic on Memorial was just too deadly), snaggle your way over to Arlington St. Turn left and "hit it" down the wide sidewalk past the middle school. 5-minute pace was common here, with everyone from Choo to Barry to Brent, Phillip, anyone who felt like letting it loose. (Once, we took a shoe rep down this hill, Brent Conway led at no slower than 4:50 or so. He didn't come back to run with us.)
First hill, up Arlington towards K-Mart. (Bob Friend and Rob Powell were deliberately run off the road on this stretch, but Rob caught the car at the light at the bottom of the hill and kicked in his door until he drove off on the sidewalk up Arlington with Rob still yelling "get out of the car, you SOB, I won't hurt you!) There was always water available at the gas station at the K-Mart corner. Sometimes, we even stopped. The fountain inside was cold, the hose outside was not.
Continue on Arlington towards Red Banks Rd. This was our halfway point, or so we thought. Turn left on Red Banks. A guy threw a cigarette butt at us one day on this stretch, one of us picked it up and chased the car to the stop sign and gave it back. Red Banks ends at 14th St Ext, so turn left and watch out for the traffic on the narrow road to Greenville Blvd. Find your way across Greenville Blvd without getting hit, turn right into the apartments, something Oaks, where Choo lived for a while.
Cross the wet grass at JC Park to catch the pavement on a street that ends there coming the other way. Time to get a lead on Jim Bulluck if you can, 'cause he's coming. Cut over again on the last street that parallels 10th, run behind the shopping center, and down in front of the Highway Patrol. Let it hang out back to Green Springs Park.
I think that was about it.