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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels July 1, 2004 About 500 to run in Fourth By Jennifer Squires Ashland Daily Tidings Bright and early Sunday morning, 500 running enthusiasts will toe the line at the 28th annual Ashland Fourth of July run. competitors in the ashland fourth of july run take off shoulder-to-shoulder. The 28th annual Ashland Fourth of July Run will be early Sunday morning. About 320 runners already are signed up and another 180 or so more are expected to sign up in the coming days. File photo | Ashland Daily Tidings "It's funny because, as it gets closer to the Fourth of July, we get a lot of calls," said Joy Bannon, the recreation coordinator for the City of Ashland, which sponsors the event. Her office has fielded calls inquiring about the date of the race, especially this year because the holiday falls on a Sunday. The races - the traditional six-mile and the two-mile fun run/walk - will start one after the other at 7:45 and 7:50 a.m. on, yes, Sunday. "That's certainly been a tradition as well, because it's always been on the Fourth of July," Bannon said of the road race. The Ashland Fourth of July Run, notorious for the almost-constant uphill nature of the terrain, peaked at more than 700 entries in the mid-1980s. Although the races already boast approximately 320 entrants collectively, race director Bob Julian believes the final number will crest closer to 500. "I expect we're going to pick up a lot [today], Friday, Saturday and Sunday," Julian said. "We'll pick up quite a few probably Sunday morning. I expect we'll go up at least another 150." The race is about the same as last year at this point, with more than half of the entrants coming from the Rogue Valley. There are also quite a few Californians, followed by Idaho and Nevada residents. The racer making the biggest journey to the Ashland comes halfway across the country - from Michigan - though it's not unheard of to have last-minute entries from the East Coast and abroad. The majority of racers will compete in the six-mile traditional event, though right now about one-third of entrants are slated to race in the two-mile fun walk/run. Typically, one in four Fourth of July Run participants are two-milers. "It seems like they are more two milers this year, proportionally," Julian explained. "I'm thinking, which is probably true, that people coming with the late entries in the next two days are probably running the six miles." The entry fee jumps to $20 on Sunday morning and T-shirts are no longer available, but the opportunity for people to participate still exists - last year 70 people registered the morning of the event. Drawings for prizes will be held at the conclusion of the events, which are open to any and all entrants, regardless of their performance. Plaques and gift certificates to Harry and David will be awarded to the first finishers and the first 10 kids in the two-mile event will receive ribbons, along with the participant ribbons everyone two-miler gets for finishing. The Ashland Fourth of July Run starts at the corner of Third and North Main streets, directly in front of the library. DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams