Twilight's Last Gleaming Cross Country Challenge
Encyclopedia
Twilight's Last Gleaming Cross Country Challenge is a four mile, annual cross country style running race. It is held on the same course, in and around Arroyo Verde Park, annually on the last Saturday in October, starting at 5 p.m. In 2011, the race was held on October 29. The race was the penultimate race of the Southern California USATF Cross Country
Grand Prix.
The race was started in 1986 by television director
and eccentric track and field
enthusiast Andrew Hecker. He devised this event on encouragement from another local, eccentric race director Brian Pritchard, who at the time the Long Distance Running Chairman for Southern California TAC (The Athletics Congress), the predecessor of the modern day USATF. Seeing Hecker's enthusiasm for helping at local events he asked "So Andrew, when are you going to put on a race?" This race became the answer.
The original intent with the name and schedule of the race was to coincide with the last day of Daylight saving time
. When the U.S. Government decided to change the weekend of the time change, it was decided to keep the race on the same, final Saturday in October, schedule. When there is a large Wildfire
in the Ventura County area, the park where the race is held has been procured as a secluded housing area for the firefighters, canceling all other events in the park. There have been a few occasions over the years when the race has had to be re-scheduled into the month of November. The weather on those occasions has been less pleasant, though the race is announced as "Rain or Shine."
Arroyo Verde Park, off Foothill Road at the end of Day road, is one of the most distinctive parks in the Ventura, California
Park System. It is nestled in a canyon of oak-thickets, with steep hills covered by chaparral on both sides. The steep hills are part of the distinctive and challenging course, which boasts over 1200 feet of elevation gain (and loss) over its four miles. The hills are notable. The first is the Skyline hill, a residential city street adjacent to the park, rising almost 400 feet in just over half a mile. The next one is referred to as "The Finger," as in the obscene gesture, which ultimately winds down to the base of the steepest hill on the course, called "The Wall" which achieves almost a 20 percent grade. The 2 mile, halfway point is on "The Wall." After reaching the peak of that hill, the next mile generally winds down through sandy trails (with hidden boulders under the sand) to the floor of the canyon, where it passes through sections of pavement, wood chips, grass and more dirt trails. The final mile is perhaps the easiest part of the course, but after the previous three miles, even the gentle climb on the park's lower trail is a challenge. Just for insult, the final 50 yards is a steep climb up a grass hill.Course map
See the satellite view of the course area.
If the course is not different enough, the (dis-)organization of the race deliberately tries to do things differently. The race is held in the evening, rather than the morning. The 5 p.m. start time allows for even the slowest competitors to find their way back to the finish before sunset. The age division are uniquely broken into 6 year age groups, with records carefully kept based on these age groups since the race started.http://www.trackinfo.org/twi/records.html And while the entry fees are kept to a minimum, race management deliberately requests all entrants use day of race registration. A $5 penalty for EARLY registration is charged . . . nobody has ever been interested in paying for such a privilege. While many running races make T-shirt sales an important part of their marketing, flyers for this race advertise T-shirts are available for $30, which somehow has had a severely detrimental effect on their sales. The awards have traditionally been personalized mugs and commemorative tiles with the race logo. The tiles have become so treasured, perhaps a badge of honor, that some competitors have put them on display by installing them in their kitchen or bathroom wall.
Cross country running
Cross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...
Grand Prix.
The race was started in 1986 by television director
Television director
A television director directs the activities involved in making a television program and is part of a television crew.-Duties:The duties of a television director vary depending on whether the production is live or recorded to video tape or video server .In both types of productions, the...
and eccentric track and field
Track and field
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...
enthusiast Andrew Hecker. He devised this event on encouragement from another local, eccentric race director Brian Pritchard, who at the time the Long Distance Running Chairman for Southern California TAC (The Athletics Congress), the predecessor of the modern day USATF. Seeing Hecker's enthusiasm for helping at local events he asked "So Andrew, when are you going to put on a race?" This race became the answer.
The original intent with the name and schedule of the race was to coincide with the last day of Daylight saving time
Daylight saving time
Daylight saving time —also summer time in several countries including in British English and European official terminology —is the practice of temporarily advancing clocks during the summertime so that afternoons have more daylight and mornings have less...
. When the U.S. Government decided to change the weekend of the time change, it was decided to keep the race on the same, final Saturday in October, schedule. When there is a large Wildfire
Wildfire
A wildfire is any uncontrolled fire in combustible vegetation that occurs in the countryside or a wilderness area. Other names such as brush fire, bushfire, forest fire, desert fire, grass fire, hill fire, squirrel fire, vegetation fire, veldfire, and wilkjjofire may be used to describe the same...
in the Ventura County area, the park where the race is held has been procured as a secluded housing area for the firefighters, canceling all other events in the park. There have been a few occasions over the years when the race has had to be re-scheduled into the month of November. The weather on those occasions has been less pleasant, though the race is announced as "Rain or Shine."
Arroyo Verde Park, off Foothill Road at the end of Day road, is one of the most distinctive parks in the Ventura, California
Ventura, California
Ventura is the county seat of Ventura County, California, United States, incorporated in 1866. The population was 106,433 at the 2010 census, up from 100,916 at the 2000 census. Ventura is accessible via U.S...
Park System. It is nestled in a canyon of oak-thickets, with steep hills covered by chaparral on both sides. The steep hills are part of the distinctive and challenging course, which boasts over 1200 feet of elevation gain (and loss) over its four miles. The hills are notable. The first is the Skyline hill, a residential city street adjacent to the park, rising almost 400 feet in just over half a mile. The next one is referred to as "The Finger," as in the obscene gesture, which ultimately winds down to the base of the steepest hill on the course, called "The Wall" which achieves almost a 20 percent grade. The 2 mile, halfway point is on "The Wall." After reaching the peak of that hill, the next mile generally winds down through sandy trails (with hidden boulders under the sand) to the floor of the canyon, where it passes through sections of pavement, wood chips, grass and more dirt trails. The final mile is perhaps the easiest part of the course, but after the previous three miles, even the gentle climb on the park's lower trail is a challenge. Just for insult, the final 50 yards is a steep climb up a grass hill.Course map
See the satellite view of the course area.
If the course is not different enough, the (dis-)organization of the race deliberately tries to do things differently. The race is held in the evening, rather than the morning. The 5 p.m. start time allows for even the slowest competitors to find their way back to the finish before sunset. The age division are uniquely broken into 6 year age groups, with records carefully kept based on these age groups since the race started.http://www.trackinfo.org/twi/records.html And while the entry fees are kept to a minimum, race management deliberately requests all entrants use day of race registration. A $5 penalty for EARLY registration is charged . . . nobody has ever been interested in paying for such a privilege. While many running races make T-shirt sales an important part of their marketing, flyers for this race advertise T-shirts are available for $30, which somehow has had a severely detrimental effect on their sales. The awards have traditionally been personalized mugs and commemorative tiles with the race logo. The tiles have become so treasured, perhaps a badge of honor, that some competitors have put them on display by installing them in their kitchen or bathroom wall.