Humes named starter for 34th Courier 10K


Madison Courier Firecracker 10K race volunteers give 2011 run winner Tate Schienbein, of Liberty, a round of applause (above) as he crosses the finish line at Lytle Park in downtown Madison with a time of 31:59.78. Madison girls varsity basketball coach Willie Humes (below) will serve as the honorary starter for this year’s Courier 10K — an official Madison Regatta Week event — on Saturday, July 7. “I’ve never done anything at the Regatta before — except go watch it. But I feel privileged that they asked me to do this,” Humes said. (Courier file photos by Mark Campbell)
Pre-registration now under way for July 7 Regatta run & walk

6/19/2012 3:00:00 PM

By Mark Campbell

It terms of athletic participation, one Madison Regatta Week event out-strides all others and it's been that way for more than a third of a century.

A combined field of 511 runners and walkers competed or participated in the 2011 Madison Courier Firecracker 10K run and walk and registration is currently under way for this year's event - the 34th annual - to be held on Saturday, July 7.

This year's Madison Courier honorary 10K starter is Madison girls varsity basketball coach Willie Humes, who coached the Lady Cubs to a sectional championship last March in his first season with the team.

Although never what one would call a track athlete, Humes was a standout athlete at Madison - especially on the basketball court where he graduated in 1967 as the Cubs' second all-time leading scorer with 1,876 points.

Humes spent two years at Vincennes University before finishing his college career at Idaho State University where he averaged 31.5 points per game and was drafted by the NBA's Atlanta Hawks. Humes still ranks high on Idaho State's career scoring list in points, field goal percentage marks for scoring in a single game. He was inducted into the Bengals' athletic Hall of Fame last September.

With all that in mind Humes, who is quick with a laugh, said it's a good thing his role as 10K starter is honorary because he'd otherwise be ill prepared to commence this year's walk and race.

"I've never done anything at the Regatta before - except go watch it. But I feel privileged that they asked me to do this. I've never done this before but I'm hoping they will give me a little help," Humes chuckled.

"I'm really not a track runner," Humes laughed. "I hit a few tennis balls around and I've played softball and baseball and basketball but I never did get into that track or running a lot."

Humes said he was "totally shocked" when Courier 10K race organizers asked him serve as the honorary starter.

"Lou (Knoble) called me and told me that he wanted me to start the 10K and I said 'Well I don't know what I'm doing' but he said 'Me and (Harold) Peewee (Lakeman) will help you out. It's going to be fun - I hope it's going to be fun."

Registration for the 2012 10K is currently under way and entry forms can be downloaded on The Madison Courier's website - www.madisoncourier.com - or are available by stopping by the newspaper's office at 310 West Street from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

The cost is $10 for walkers and $20 for runners through June 27 when the prices increases to $15 for walkers and $25 for runners. Each pre-registered participant will receive an officially commemorative T-shirt and an information packet. Race-day registration is available beginning with the pre-race check-in at 6:30 a.m. at Madison Consolidated High School but some sizes of T-shirts may not be available for participants who do not pre-register.

The walk begins at 8 a.m. with the race starting at 8:30 a.m. at the high School on the hilltop and ending at Lytle Park in downtown Madison. A shuttle bus will be available to transport participants back to their cars at the high school parking lot and water will be provided at various stations throughout the 6.2-mile course.

The race is scored as a competitive event with awards presented to the overall male and female runner and to the top three finishers in each age division both male and female.

Last year's overall winner was 17-year-old Tate Schienbein, of Liberty, with a time of 31:59.78 while the top female runner was six-time champion Amanda Bell LeBlanc, 29, with a time of 38:03.33.

The walk is a non-competitive event and while times are recorded, no awards are presented in that division.

 

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