Cascade Run Off Redux to Celebrate 40-Year Anniversary of Professional Road Running

May 4, 2021

RRCA programs that support post-collegiate runners will receive essential support; virtual racers will receive rendition of classic t-shirt.

Portland, OR — Today’s runners can connect with one of the sport’s signature historical moments, while at the same time supporting current elite road racers, by signing up for Cascade Run Off Redux. The virtual 15K harkens back to the 1981 Cascade Run Off in Portland, Oregon, where top runners challenged amateur rules that prevented them from accepting prize money, signing endorsement contracts, and otherwise competing as professionals. The concerted action of those who toed the line 40 years ago on June 28, 1981, led to steady rule changes that brought open competition to road racing, and eventually opened all international events, including the Olympics, to professional athletes.

Those who sign up for the virtual Cascade Run Off Redux will receive a t-shirt with a rendition of the classic design by Scott McIntire from the 1981 shirt, one of the most original designs ever to grace a runner’s chest. In addition, $20.00 of each entry fee from Cascade Run Off Redux, and any additional proceeds, will be used to support programs of the Road Runners Club of America (RRCA) that assist post-collegiate runners.

RRCA clubs are highly encouraged to promote the RRCA Club Team Challenge. Each member of the team with the most participants will receive an exclusive Cascade Run Off Redux giveaway as well as the very distinctive Cascade Run Off Redux t-shirt that is included with every registration.

Frank Lara, who attended the RRCA’s RunPro Camp in 2019 and also received a Roads Scholar Grant that year had this to say about about the support he has received from the RRCA during a recent Zoom panel discussion: “The grant came at a very opportune time. I don’t know what I would have done without it. It let me look forward to what’s ahead, not just going to races and having to worry about the financial side of things.”

Aliphine Tuliamuk, winner of the 2020 Women’s U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials and one of 17 athletes who received a special RRCA grant to assist in the lead up to the Olympic Trials Marathon, added: “When you receive the grant it makes you realize that people believe in you.”

Cascade Run Off Redux is being organized by three individuals who played key roles in the 1981 Cascade Run Off—Chuck Galford, co-founder and president of the Run Off Race Committee; Keith Peters, race coordinator; and Don Kardong, who served as president of the Association of Road Racing Athletes (ARRA), the runners’ organization that spearheaded the effort.

“The lead-up to the 1981 Run Off was incredibly stressful for the athletes who competed there,” said Kardong. “Those who won prize money, like race winners Greg Meyer and Anne Audain, were subsequently banned and refused entry to many races. But in the end the rules were changed, and athletes today are free to compete as professionals.”

Signup for Cascade Run Off Redux is available through the event website at www.cascaderunoffredux.com through July 4. Those who sign up by May 20 should receive their souvenir shirt by June 18, the first day of the virtual run. Those who sign up between May 21 and July 4 will be mailed their shirts in late July. Entry fee for Cascade Run Off Redux is $40.

For more information:

Visit: www.CascadeRunOffRedux.com

Contact: keithgpeters@me.com

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