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It's been a challenging 5-mile run that takes runners up and down hills since its beginning, and this year will be no different, when the Bonner Springs Rotary Club's Tiblow Trot celebrates its 30th anniversary.

The race started back in 1978 as a way to raise money for scholarships the Rotary Club presented to graduating seniors and has now become a tradition that has nestled its way into the regular lineup of the annual Tiblow Days events.

"We have runners who have run in the first race and every year since," said race director Bruce Coleman. "The past 10 years we've averaged 100 to 125 participants. We have a real steady base of people who look forward to this run every year."

It was Rotary members Dean Buhrle and Jerry Bredwell who came up with the idea in 1978. The two, who were runners themselves at the time, were looking for a way to raise funds and decided to capitalize on running's popularity at that time.

Little has changed with the course since its beginning. Runners will start at Kelly Murphy Park and make their way along Front Street up to 138th Street and then down to Nettleton, Sheidley and Morse before ending in front of Alden Harrington Funeral Home on Oak Street.

"It's always been a real challenging 5-mile race," Coleman said of the hills that can be found along the route. "It's a fairly well-recognized race for being challenging. Runners within the community know about this race."

But that doesn't mean every participant has to be up to Olympic standards. The race has had participants in wheelchairs, a father running while pushing his baby in a stroller and then those who chose to walk the whole five miles.

In 2000 organizers also reached out to those who don't want to run the whole race by adding a 2-mile walk. Proceeds from that section of the race go to Polio Plus. The remaining proceeds will provide three $750 scholarships to graduating seniors.

For Coleman, the most enjoyable part of the race is seeing familiar faces each year, many of whom grew up in Bonner and make a point to come back for the race and the rest of the Tiblow Days celebrations.

"They're all such great people," he said. "The ones that come back year after year, it's kind of like a homecoming. Everyone is real friendly and anxious to see everyone."

One of the most memorable of all the years came in 1997 when a runner named Phil Hutnall set the course record of 24 minutes and 49 seconds.

"He was just flying," Coleman said. "We've had some really good times on the course. But with all the hills you don't expect them to average less than 5 minutes a mile. It was phenomenal speed, I thought."

That was also a favorite moment for the original race creator. Buhrle said that Hutnall was a big name in running in Kansas City at the time. To this day, Hutnall still holds on to his record, which to Buhrle is a great accomplishment.

"He was an outstanding runner," Buhrle said. "It's pretty neat to have some of the bigger names running. The run was designed to be a fun, family thing, but having an elite runner come and participate and set the course record, that was pretty neat."

But Buhrle's most memorable, and probably funniest, memory came from a T-shirt mix-up the very first year. This was before the race joined Tiblow Days, and took place in November. Up to the last minute, Buhrle was waiting for a sporting goods company to deliver T-shirts he ordered for the race.

He kept calling the company, who told him the shirts would be finished any day. On the day before the race, the shirts were finally delivered but upon picking them up out of the box, a big mistake was discovered.

"They spelled November wrong," he said. "They left the 'm' out of November."

That T-shirt, along with 24 other t-shirts throughout the years, were memorialized when Buhrle's wife, Dorothy, made a quilt out of them.

"I've still got that one shirt that shows 'Noveber,'" Buhrle said with a laugh.

This year's race will be from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. with runners meeting at Kelly Murphy Park, at Second and Elm streets. Entry fees are $18 for early registration and $20 on the day of the race. For more information or to pre-register, contact Bruce Coleman at bruce@colemanequip.com.

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