Saratoga News

Great Race originator: Mimi Baca

Great Race started out as a client promotion

By Mimi Baca

In late 1977 I created the Great Race for Western Federal Savings and planned it until 1983. Since that time, there's been some misinformation about the beginning of the race. So in an effort to set the record straight, I've written the following:

The concept for the Great Race sprang from a request by Western Federal Savings, a PRx client at the time, to create something to generate awareness for its offices in Saratoga and in Los Gatos.

The so-called fun runs of today were not yet commonplace, so the idea of a running event was not a "given." As I drove back and forth (and forth and back) between Western Federal's offices, I thought about a bicycle race. But I abandoned that idea when I noted on my car's odometer that the distance between the two offices was only 3.8 miles. The thought of an American version of a German volkswalk was also discarded. Walking simply didn't fit with the then-accelerating pace of Silicon's Valley culture.

"Two offices, two offices, two offices," my mind kept repeating as I searched for inspiration. Then, right there on beautiful Los Gatos-Saratoga Road, it hit me. Why not a race with two starts, two finish lines and two converging groups of runners running into each other and exchanging good-natured greetings?

Mayors of both cities readily accepted our idea to challenge one another as to which community could register the most runners. And Al Smith, Los Gatos' mayor at the time, agreed to help us promote the Great Race by being photographed in a "warm-up run." This raised the eyebrows of some of his supporters who observed the photo session. I didn't learn why until I asked Al following the shoot. At that point, he simply smiled, then raised his pant leg to expose a wooden prosthesis.

As I fumbled vainly for something appropriate to say, the mayor broke into uproarious laughter.

It's funny now, and as I think back, Al Smith's laughter sort of set a tone for the Great Race.

I hired a race director who had officiated at events for Redwood Shores, another PRx client, and I remember him most for his projection of how many participants we could expect. "You'll be lucky to have 300 the first year," he said.

We had 601.

I always got a kick out of seeing old faded Great Race T-shirts when I was out shopping on weekends, as many as 10 years later. It was fun planning the weekly publicity and working with our graphic artist on the T-shirt and promotional flier design. Frankly, I'm disappointed with the poor graphics of recent races. Surely something that's been so good for so long deserves more thoughtful artwork.

In the Great Race's second year, another part of the tradition was born. Former Saratoga Mayor Bill Glennon asked us to purchase a large trophy to be awarded to the city that signed up the most runners each year. Glennon himself ran in the Great Race and was a running enthusiast involved with the Saratoga Marathon Clinic of that era. Still, he was modest and originally reluctant to allow the perpetuating trophy to be awarded in his name.

Another tradition started back then--we made sure that the residents of Los Gatos and Saratoga knew that Great Race proceeds would go to a different nonprofit agency each year in both communities.

It was work, but this, too, was fun.

We were also very fortunate to have the total support of the weekly papers in both Saratoga and Los Gatos. One daily called the Great Race "the most significant race in the West Valley" and in the first year even sent two photographers.

One year "Rocky's Theme" was very popular and was heard everywhere. So I hired a half-dozen trumpet players to blare out this inspirational, if overplayed, rhapsody at strategic spots along the race course. This elicited the guffaws of my co-workers and associates; however, I was vindicated when so many runners said they loved hearing the song during the course of the race.

Somewhere among the souvenirs of the early Great Races, there's a photo of a man running in a suit. Why did he run in a suit? Why, indeed! "No one," he reasoned, "would recognize me without a suit!" In the days before the race in the following year, we learned that the same man would enter the race and would again run in a suit. So we photographed him searching in his closet for his Great Race suit. That picture won a national sports photo award.

All the runners go in only one direction now. Things change, maybe not always for the best. Even so, my Great Race has had a great run.

Mimi Baca is with PRx Inc. Strategic Marketing Communications in San Jose. The Great Race will be run Feb. 22.

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