48th Annual Bill Luti Road Race

Longevity, tradition, memories, July, hot, humid, hills, coach. These are all words that come to mind when talking about the Bill Luti 5 Miler. The second oldest race in New Hampshire behind Mount Washington, the Bill Luti 5 Miler has lasted,in part, because of the man it honors. Coach Luti is responsible for much of the local running activities even if current participants don’t know it.

The race, originally called the Concord 5 Miler was founded by Coach in 1967 as a means of giving his athletes a summer racing experience. With perhaps 20 runners that first year, roughly 500 will toe the line this Saturday, 48 years later. The Concord 5 Miler was a late July Friday evening event for about 20 years until Barry Caldon, a member of the Granite State Racing Team suggested it be re-named in honor of Coach Luti. The spirit behind the name change was that too often we wait until those we want to honor pass away before giving them recognition. Twenty eight years later the race continues to thrive and Coach Luti remains a part of the day. Shortly there after it was moved to a much cooler Saturday morning time.

The Granite State Racing Team, the home-team of the race is an off-shoot of sorts from Concord’s original road-racing team the Turtle Town Athletic Club. Founded my Coach Luti and named after one of his favorite fishing spots,the gold singlets adorned with a black turtle sporting a T on it’s shell were recognized all over the state. As road racing grew, the nature of the club changed and Turtle Town AC became Granite State Racing Team, Concord’s current road-racing club.Founded by a Luti Alumni Bob Teschek, several of coach’s athletes ran for the new club. A large group still meets at the track every Tuesday night, blissfully unaware of their historical roots. TTAC and GSRT can be found in race results state wide from over the years and boast some very fast members.

I ran this race myself several times over the course of my running career. It was always nice to see Coach at the two-mile mark after he fired the starting gun. He has come to every race in my memory save one or two when he was out of town. He has a smile and a hand shake for every one and a hug for the Alumni who show up.

The race is this Saturday at 9:00am. The festivities are at Memorial Field. Come run, or be a volunteer...I am in desperate need of course monitors and water stop personnel. Or just come watch and say hello to Coach! I am sure he would love to see you!