It had to be 10 miles
There are plenty of large races in the country, some with longer histories, some with bigger reputations.
One thing that sets the Crim apart is its length - 10 miles makes for a nice round number, but it's not a typical racing distance. It was chosen for a reason.
"There were a lot of 5Ks and 10Ks, and then you jumped to a marathon," race founder Bobby Crim explained. "We thought (10 miles) was a good middle distance."
As Running Times magazine put it in 2005, it was a doable distance "long enough to make finishing significant." The July-August edition of Running Times, a highly respected national running publication, listed the Crim among the country's top 23 10-mile races, which were listed chronologically.
Once the length was set, a course had to be laid out. The only given: The race would finish on the S. Saginaw Street bricks in downtown Flint, Mich.
From 1977 to 1988, the race started at Mott Community College. The start moved downtown in 1989.
The course runs through neighborhoods rich and poor.
In any town this size, you're going to have those kinds of neighborhoods," said John Gault of Flushing, Mich., who helped design the course. "There's no sense trying to hide it."
Also helping the race to stand out is the field of international runners. The race started with appearance fees paid to elite runners.
In 1991, incentives changed to prize money for winners. That changed the makeup of the field, as talented runners from Kenya flocked to Flint and American runners who used to get appearance fees went elsewhere.
An American hasn't won the Crim since 1990, the year before the change.
The 2005 win of Joseph Fabiano of Tanzania was only the third time in 15 years that the winner wasn’t from Kenya. Fabiano, the youngest Crim champ ever at the age of 19, earned $5,000 for his effort. Mexican Alejandro Cruz (1993) and Moroccan Brahim Lahlifi (1997) were the only others from different countries to win the men's race in the prize-money era, which began in 1991.
"It's difficult to beat the Kenyans," Fabiano said. "The Kenyans are tough."
Click here for 10-mile race route.
Men winners
|
1977
|
Steve Kenyon | 50:05 |
|
1978
|
Greg Meyer | 48:00 |
|
1979
|
Herb Lindsay | 48:00 |
|
1980
|
Herb Lindsay | 47:06 |
|
1981
|
Herb Lindsay | 47:15 |
|
1982
|
Steve Kenyon | 46:42 |
|
1983
|
Nick Rose | 46:58 |
|
1984
|
Nick Rose | 46:59 |
|
1985
|
Ken Martin | 46:54 |
|
1986
|
Ed Eyestone | 47:36 |
|
1987
|
Brian Sheriff | 48:09 |
|
1988
|
Ed Eyestone | 46:44 |
|
1989
|
Brian Sheriff | 46:23 |
|
1990
|
Ken Martin | 47:44 |
|
1991
|
Steve Kogo | 47:15 |
|
1992
|
Simon Karori | 46:20 |
|
1993
|
Alejandro Cruz | 47:05 |
|
1994
|
Benson Masya | 46:22 |
|
1995
|
Thomas Osano | 46:06 |
|
1996
|
Joseph Kamau | 45:43 |
|
1997
|
Brahim Lahlifi | 45:45 |
|
1998
|
John Korir | 46:15 |
|
1999
|
John Korir | 46:54 |
|
2000
|
Mark Yatich | 47:36 |
|
2001
|
Laban Kipkemboi | 46:41 |
|
2002
|
Simon Rono | 47:13 |
|
2003
|
John Korir | 46:22 |
|
2004
|
Linus Maiyo | 48:06 |
|
2005
|
Fabiano Joseph | 47:46 |
Women winners
|
1977
|
Kim Merritt | 58:41 |
|
1978
|
Celia Peterson | 59:30 |
|
1979
|
Joan Benoit | 55:41 |
|
1980
|
Patti Catalano | 53:40 |
|
1981
|
Patti Catalano | 55:35 |
|
1982
|
Joan Benoit | 53:17 |
|
1983
|
Lisa Martin | 55:07 |
|
1984
|
Janice Ettle | 55:15 |
|
1985
|
Lisa Martin | 54:40 |
|
1986
|
Lisa Weidenbach | 54:46 |
|
1987
|
Lisa Weidenbach | 55:02 |
|
1988
|
Lisa Weidenbach | 53:10 |
|
1989
|
Cathy O’Brien | 51:47 |
|
1990
|
Uta Pippig | 53:56 |
|
1991
|
Lesley Lehane | 54:02 |
|
1992
|
Olga Markova | 53:17 |
|
1993
|
Lynn Jennings | 52:53 |
|
1994
|
Anne Marie Letko | 53:42 |
|
1995
|
Delillah Asiago | 53:08 |
|
1996
|
Catherine Ndereba | 52:50 |
|
1997
|
Hellen Kimaiyo | 53:34 |
|
1998
|
Catherine Ndereba | 53:33 |
|
1999
|
Catherine Ndereba | 54:21 |
|
2000
|
Catherine Ndereba | 53:01 |
|
2001
|
Catherine Ndereba | 52:36 |
|
2002
|
Catherine Ndereba | 52:09 |
|
2003
|
Lyudmila Biktasheva | 51:52 |
|
2004
|
Leah Malot | 54:35 |
|
2005
|
Alevtina Ivanova | 53:34 |