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Flatlanders race, a longtime tradition, hits the finish line

The Red Mule Runners club is partly sad, partly relieved that the struggling 10K will take an indefinite hiatus.

By DAN DEWITT
Published December 6, 2006

BROOKSVILLE - For the first time in nearly 30 years, winter in Hernando County will pass without the Flatlanders Challenge road race, a community institution done in by dwindling attendance and exhausted volunteers.

"It takes hours and hours and hours to set up that race, not to mention the cleanup, and it's just not cost effective," said Chuck Boldt, president of the Red Mule Runners, which has sponsored the race since its inception in 1979.

Boldt also has served as race director for most of the past decade, he said, and the only candidates to take his place were other club members who had put in several years on the job.

"Our main problem is nobody wants to be race director," said Judy Hensley, another Red Mule member and former director.

The hilly course through Brooksville made Flatlanders, which was typically held in late January, one of the toughest 10K races in the state. In the 1980s and 1990s, it drew as many as 800 runners, including legendary marathoners Frank Shorter and Bill Rogers, who entered several times.

The club decided to cancel the race about two months ago, Hensley said, and it is probably too late to salvage this season's race even if a new director steps forward.

That's because no one has begun the time-consuming process of applying for permits from the city and rounding up sponsors and volunteers.

Though Red Mule members haven't ruled out staging the race in the future, it has likely been permanently doomed by changes in the local running scene, especially increasing competition from other races.

Organizers in Florida like to stage races in the winter because of the cool weather, former race director Ernie Chatman said.

For example, four marathons are scheduled for January or February, which means fewer runners would be available to race Flatlanders.

It also means that a race intended to raise money for scholarships and running camps for young people had instead begun to lose money, Boldt said.

The low point came last year, when torrential rain limited race attendance to only 93 runners.

"Even if you throw out last year, when we had the monsoon, we were only getting 250 to 300 runners," Boldt said.

With entry fees of about $20, that was barely enough to cover the cost of putting on the race: about $5,500.

The race moved to Spring Lake in 2001 after complaints from Brooksville residents and a dispute over the cost of providing police officers to control traffic.

It returned three years later, and the city has helped by reducing its fees for traffic control, Boldt said.

The race attendance, however, never recovered.

Hensley said the club will remain active, sponsoring a 5K during Labor Day weekend at McKethan Lake Park and a series of races in the spring. It has also discussed the possibility of staging an 8K race in a secure area similar to McKethan Lake that does not require traffic control.

Boldt said the decision to cancel the race was painful to all longtime Red Mule members.

"I'm sick over it," he said. "How did Cal Ripkin feel the day he couldn't play one more game?

"You're breaking that string, that thing that's always been there."

At the same time, Boldt said, he is glad to be relieved of the duties of organizing the race, which was rigorous enough that it left him with symptoms familiar to any Flatlanders runner.

"When it was over, I was exhausted. All I wanted to do was go home and sit in the hot tub."

Dan DeWitt can be reached at 352754-6116 or dewitt@sptimes.com.

[Last modified December 6, 2006, 00:00:38]