The 11 a.m. start time of Saturday’s 59th annual Trinidad to Clam Beach Run Honoring Ford Hess turned out to not to be good timing for the tidal-influenced water crossing of the Little River. With 720 runners, including 200 grade school and high school students sponsored by Coast Central Credit Union, at the starting line, organizers announced a one-hour delay for safety. After moving the river crossing farther downstream to shallower water, the race got underway at noon.
Race weekend proved to be great timing, however, for a reunion of Humboldt State University’s “legendary Old Boys,” runners featured in Vince Engel’s recent book, Running Behind the Redwood Curtain: A collection of Humboldt State old boys’ memories told by those who were there. Engel graduated from then HSU in 1970 after setting school records in 880-yard, 1 mile and 1,500-meter races, and being named a national All-American in the 1,500 in 1968 and 1969.
Engel and HSU alumnus Mike Williams, owner of the Jogg’n Shoppe in Arcata, organized a party on Thursday afternoon for the HSU alumni runners, including a surprise for Gary Tuttle, of Ventura, a six-time Trinidad to Clam Beach race winner (including the first race in 1966, ’67, ’69, ’79, ’80 and ’81.). When Tuttle arrived at the event, he discovered everyone was wearing “Who the Hell is Gary Tuttle” T-shirts, thanks to Engel and Williams. Later that evening, the group of aging cross-country and track-and-field runners was honored at halftime of the Cal Poly Humboldt men’s basketball game.
On Friday afternoon, many of the old runners gathered for a book-signing event at the Jogg’n Shoppe honoring the legacy of their former Humboldt State Hall of Fame Coach Jim Hunt and his wife JoAnn. The Trinidad Eatery also hosted a book-signing gathering after Saturday’s race.
Race organizers from the Trinidad Chamber of Commerce also were present Friday afternoon to hand out race T-shirts and numbers and take late registrations (933 total) for Saturday’s race. The big questions on everyone’s mind were Saturday’s cold-weather forecast and the depth of the water for crossing of Little River.
Saturday dawned with clear skies and light wind By the delayed start, it was 50 degrees and the new crossing site proved to be safe for the dash-and-splash runners.
At the finish line, the overall men’s and women’s winners of the 5.75-mile race, Nicholas Brichta (age 25) and Riley Martel-Phillips (age 23) clocked times of 28:25 and 36:05 respectively. Both are graduates of Arcata High School.
The runners and walkers finishing the race were grateful for the hard-packed sand of Clam Beach and the warming fire and free lunch at the finish line. The Cal Poly Humboldt Marching Lumberjacks provided live music at the finish line and carried out their traditional march into the ocean surf to the tune of “Rubber Ducky.”
Editor’s note: This story was updated from a previous version to fix an editing error.
Mark Larson (he/him) is a retired Cal Poly Humboldt journalism professor and active freelance photographer who likes to walk.
This article appears in Step Aside Prop. 47, Proposition 36 Has Arrived.
Thanks for the article. A fun time for all us Humboldt State Old Boys.