Nike did a great job of combining fitness with rock and roll at their new 2004 Run Hit Wonder Race National Tour.  The Portland event on August 1st attracted 10,000 runners and walkers to downtown Portland, Oregon, with competitive 5k and 10 k courses and five rock and roll bands whose claim to fame was they each had one hit tune. It was hard to tell who was there to run and who was there for the music.

"I think it's great! It's the kind of race that you don't have to be a runner to run," said Geoffrey Kleinman of Portland. "Because there's music, if you get tired you can stop and listen. So worst case scenario is you've got five concerts today."

The Run Hit Wonder road race started in Los Angeles two years ago. Making a word play of the expression "one hit wonder," used to describe pop bands who make it to the big time with one hit and then fade away, Nike brought the series to the national scene this year with stops in L.A., New York City; Portland, and Chicago. As the name would suggest, the event featured five one-hit wonder rock and roll bands. Included this year were Tone Loc ("Wild Thing"), Tommy Tutone, Dramarama ("Anything, Anything"), and Flock of Seagulls ("I Ran"), with Devo "(Whip It") giving a concert at the finish.

As people warmed up you could feel the excitement. It wasn't hard to find people who remembered Tommy Tutone's hit Jenny (867-5309) or Flock of Seagulls hairdos. Devo was by far the biggest attraction. Some fans like Celia Perkins from Portland, showed their devotion by wearing Devo hats. "We wanted to fit the part, kind of stand out in the crowd," Perkins said.

"A chance to run and see Devo," was what Jesse Tanright was looking forward to. A huge Devo fan, he was there to hear his favorites songs: Freedom of Choice and Beautiful World.

"It just really sounded like a fun day with all the bands," said Debbra Glaubitz from Milwaukie.  "I'm going to be walking the 5k." She admitted to this being her first race and liked the idea of getting a race shirt. "I love the fact that I now have a free shirt. I like the design, and it's great."

The souvenir shirts for this event were unique in that they were blue and printed with each individual's number. Instead of a race number clipped onto a shirt, each shirt was the race number. The shirts were made of Nike Dri-FIT, and runners liked them a lot. 

It's comfortable," said Ryan Carpenter who was there to get in a training run before the Portland Marathon. "I like it."

The uniformity of 10,000 shirts of the same color moving in one direction didn't bother most people, but a few got creative with the dress code.  Portland's Heather Pula sported "Rock the Swoosh," on her shirt.

"I'm just ready to have some fun," Pula said. "I'm ready to rock out to Devo and Tone Loc." I think it's going to be a good time; I'm excited."

"My wife and my best buddy, they're great one hit wonders fans, and this was the race for them," said Zac Spence of McMinnfield. "But my wife couldn't come because she was away on vacation, so she sent me instead." Spence was proud that he remembered most of the bands, "Tommy Tutone I can't remember at all, but the other guys, absolutely!"

Special guest emcee Randy Jackson from the popular television show "American Idol" helped start the race.  Along with Gary DeStafano, president of Nike USA, and CitySportsNW Editor Greg Pressler, he got the crowd whipped into shape. Two wheelchairs and a crank cycle lead the throng. 

Big races bring out big talent, and the winners were no exceptions. Besides the glory of beating thousands of runners, the top-finishing men and women in the 5k and 10k runs and the top wheelchair athlete were awarded a limited edition Nike Run Hit Wonder Gibson guitar. Portland's Marc Davis won the men's 5k with a time of 14:32 on a course that circled downtown from as far west as 12th Avenue and east to Naito Parkway along the river. Samuel Bumpas of Beaverton came in second in 14:35, and Matt McKeehan from Anahiem, Calif., was third in an even 15 minutes.

"It's a great event," said Davis after his win. Besides being a champion runner, he was also a big fan of the music. "I'm a huge '80s fans. The music and everything. That guitar is going to be really awesome on my wall."

Portland's Annie Davis won the women's 5k; her time was17:23.  She was followed by Carre Joyce, also of Portland, in 17:39. Vancouver, Washington's, Jenny Teppo came in third with a time of 17:45.

"It was pretty fun. Hard having a hill at the end, that wasn't fun," said Davis after her finish. "There were four of us girls that went through two miles together, the first two miles. And then two of us broke away going up the hill."

The 10k course included most of the 5k with an additional leg through the Northwest side of town and the Pearl up to NW 24rd. Both courses finished back downtown at Pioneer Courthouse Square. 

Jake Stout from Brush Prairie, Washington, but who currently lives in Salem, was the first 10k runner to finish. His time was 31:59. Following him was Spokane's Mike Bresson in 33:29 and then Portland's Zuber Ahmed in 33:34.

"I thought the bands were pretty cool, they kind of give you a little amp up of energy every time you hit one of those," Stout said at the finish. "They have a couple of kinks to work out, but over all it was pretty good. There was a little mix-up in the directions at one point, and we hit a dead end. Me and the second place guy are like, 'where and the heck are we going?' Then a bicycle cop came over and it was like, 'Oh we could have used you a couple of blocks ago.'"

"On your left," joked Eugene's Liz Wilson using a bicycle expression for passing after her 10k win for the women in a time of 35:09.  She was referring to the fact that during the last two miles of the 10k, the two courses converge to the finish and things got congested for the fast 10k runners. "You run right into all the 5k people, and I was more concerned for their safety." But she admitted that it was a lot of fun and complimented her competition: "There's a lot of great gals who live up here in Portland. The gal that got second beat me by a chest length, of which I don't have a lot of."

Second place woman in the 10k was Portland's Liane Rae with a time of 35:43 with Lauren Wiener also of Portland coming in third in 37:03.

Jim Fox from Beaver finished first in the wheelchair division with a time of 37:07. After the race was over, Greg Enslow, who came down from Seattle, Washington, said, "It was fantastic. I'd say the best band on the run today was Dramarama, they were really kicking it out when I came by. Tommy Tutone was out there, he was doing pretty good. Flock of Seagulls sounded really good."

Portland's Shaun Hensley also had good things to say afterwards, "Fantastic. Lot of fun. It [the bands] made it; it made the whole thing. It's good to have music along the whole way. Good course, relatively flat, good finish, I like the downhill better. Good fun all the way around."

After the awards ceremony, Devo took the stage to an enthusiastic crowd that filled the Square. While waiting to go onstage, Devo's Mark Mothersbaugh was asked what he liked the most.  "When everybody comes back all hot and sweaty and worked up; that's great!" was his reply.

At the end of the race, Nike announced that the race would be back next year around the same time. Check at www.nike.com for more information. 

Special thanks to Walt Amacher for contributing this article.

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