Blue Devil Runners to Compete for Vintage Swag During Pizza Race

Some runners are running the pizza race Wednesday for fun, some for the honor of winning and some are doing it for vintage swag from the high school track team.

The team is not cleaning out its closets for just anyone, the prize giveaway is part of a motivational running program the coaches have put together for high school runners this summer. WHS Assistant Cross Country Coach Chris Tafelski said the annual tradition of a pizza race competition for Blue Devil runners is a way to make the summer more fun.

"I like the pizza race because training can get boring," Tafelski said. "We divide the kids into teams, and the best team gets prizes. It really gets the competitive juices flowing. Summer training is hard and boring; the race is a good time for the kids."

Tafelski and head coach Jack Martin will be dividing the 20 Blue Devil runners into three teams and then they will be scoring the teams based on a cross country scoring system for the team. The pizza race course is the same length as a high school cross country course. The winning team will win the prizes.

The prizes will come out of the track team archives and will be likely include vintage track shirts, bumper stickers and spike bags. Tafelski said he is still looking for prizes in the closet.

"We're not exactly sure what the prizes are going to be just yet, but we have a nice stockpile of oldies to choose from," he said.

Blue Devil runners indicated that they are taking Tafelski's desire to use the race to bring more fun to the summer time running to heart.

"The Pizza Race is a fun time," said junior Steve West. "All the training really gets you ready for the races. The training's hard, but not nearly as hard as in the fall."

Others said they have participated in the race in the past and are looking forward to the start and the end. The end of the race features a traditional pizza party in the streets of Westfield.

"The race is fun and easy to run," said freshman Gideon Lee. "There're good times at the end."

WHS runners need not worry being out on the streets among the over 2,000 expected runners alone on Wednesday night, Tafelski will be running along side them, just not competing for prizes.

"I'll be out there too," he said.