The 12th annual Oxford Double Decker spring run was held on April 28, 2007.  About 250 participants completed the race in 2006.  This year’s race was expected to be much larger and something like 370 runners finished the 10k.  This year the Double Decker run is included in a special competition which will award $5,000 to the male and female runners who have the fastest total times in this and two other events - the Gumtree Run in Tupelo, Mississippi on 5/12/07 and the Cotton Classic to be held on 6/2/07 in Greenville, Mississippi.  This information was included in the race bag given to participants in the Double Decker race but was not mentioned on the race’s website (I had no idea about this beforehand).  Probably as a result of the cash prize, several runners from out of state competed in this year’s Double Decker.
    The race course, sprinkled with rolling hills, approaches the edge of the Ole Miss campus, takes the runners up Fraternity Row and circles around the area known as The Grove.  Runners then proceed past the baseball field to the course’s longest climb up Old Taylor Road past Rowen Oak, home of writer William Faulkner.  This climb occurs in the fourth mile of the race and can be a real pace killer.  After Old Taylor Road, the course take a couple of turns before heading into The Square, Oxford’s historic downtown area, then down Lamar Street toward the finish.  A competitive 5k walk is also held on the same day although due in part to some issues with the two race groups intersecting last year, the courses didn’t overlap as much and the starting times were staggered.    
    The course was, for the most part, well-marked although I made a wrong turn at one point coming into the Grove.  (I apologized to the four runners who followed me.)  One later turn was unmarked although the straight option (which looked to me like a road) was in fact a long straight driveway at the end of a road.  (I was at that point relying on the knowledge of a fellow runner to guide me through to the end.) The route through the square was a little awkward as it required jumping up onto and down off the sidewalk to avoid booths set up for the Double Decker Arts Festival which would take place later in the day.  Multiple turns on short stretches of road in the 5th and 6th miles of this course make it difficult for some runners (like me) to make up any time lost in the Old Taylor Road climb.
    A $100 prize is given to first overall female and male.  Meggan Hodge of Starkville won the women’s race with a time of 38:57.  George Towett of Marietta, Georgia won the men’s race in 28:05.  (On his heels was Jared Nyamboki of Peach Tree City, Georgia with a time of 28:23). Here is a link to all finishers:
 http://www.besttimescct.com/results/Doubledecker07.txt
    Age group awards are hand made ceramic plaques.  Very nice door prizes (this year including a bicycle) are given as well.  Early race packet pick up (Thursday and Friday nights) was an improvment over last year when the wait for those who were preregistered was about 3 times as long as the wait for race day registration.  The race was not paced by the Oxford's authentic double decker bus this year which was a relief as it is obvious when you approach the vehicle that it predates any emissions standards.
    My only criticism is that the course, attractive as it is, has a few too many turns.  A fellow participant told me that several runners took a wrong loop last year so efforts were made to better mark the course this year.  My wrong turn I can blame on my own lack of attention but there were also allegations  made that some of the race leaders (unintentionally) omitted a half mile portion of the course Saturday.  Realizing that there are rarely enough available volunteers for any event, and race organizers are trying to avoid traffic, make the course meet distance requirements and even sometimes show off the sights of their area, I still think there is something to be said for simplicity in course design.
© sheryl l. chatfield