by Len Hill

This article is a continuation of the Symphony 6000 preview in the July/August issue of ITR. For a complete preview of the Symphony 6000, pick up a copy of the July/August issue of ITR.

To attract highly competitive and qualified runners for the Waco Symphony 6000, Susan Taylor, executive director of the Waco Symphony Association, enlisted the services of Todd Copeland to recruit elite runners for the prize money event. The following is an interview with Mr. Copeland as he discusses what he looks for in an elite runner, and what bringing in these runners do for the event.

ITR: Briefly, could you tell me your running history?

TC: I have lived in Waco most of my life and I ran at Midway High School. We had a good cross country and track team and I was all-state a couple of years. I went on to run at Baylor. I was a walk on, but I made the varsity cross country team. About halfway through the track season I came down with a knee injury that stopped me from running for about four years. I graduated from Baylor, but I didn't run anymore there.

ITR: How did you get back into running?

TC: After not running for about four years, I got to the point where I missed it as part of my life, as a regular lifestyle. I decided to slowly get back into running, doing a mile every other day, doing a lot of leg exercises and stretching to try to help prevent the injury from coming back. For the last two or three years I have been more or less a pseudo competitive runner. I run competitively now, but the main goal is just to be running, and not worry about how competitive I am.

ITR: Define if you could, the elite runner recruiter - what does that person do?

TC: Basically what I do, as a volunteer, is to help bring some competitive runners down to the race.

ITR: Exactly what is it that you do then?

TC: What I do is I call people that I have either known either through the race community in the state, or have seen results from and found out their phone numbers. I call them and ask them if they would be interested in coming to run, and tell them that if they are, we would be willing to comp their entry fee. Give them a complimentary entry. And then we get two or three hotel rooms that we use, typically for people who have won it in years past. We provide them with a hotel room the night before. Really that is all. The race has prize money for the top three, so for a lot of runners, for the more competitive regional runners - the prize money is not enough to attract those of a national caliber - the prize money is enough to get them there.

ITR: How many runners do you actually recruit?

TC: Each year I call about 30 people all together - men and women, and masters men and women. ITR: So you recruit not only for the top finishers, but you recruit for different age groups also?

TC: Right. We have the open division and the masters division. There is prize money for the winners in those divisions. There is a good level of masters running around the state, people who are pretty competitive. I have gotten to know them too over the course of the years. Runners are friendly people. What I do basically is just provide the race with a network of connections, and I can call people. The race provides me with about 20 or 30 free entries that I can hand out to whoever I think is a good person to have come.

ITR: Because of the top runners that are recruited, is that any reason for the average runner to shy away from this race?

TC: No, I mean the race isn't geared to being just a competitive runner only type of race. When you have a race with full spectrum of people who are out there for fun and fitness, and people who are out there to run competitively, it just gives the race a better profile. Especially if a race wants publicity in its local area, with the newspaper, if it is an actual true competitive race, the chances of getting coverage by a newspaper are exponentially greater than if it is a fun run.

ITR: Do you recruit from the collegiate level?

TC: No, not really. The college cross country season usually starts that weekend, and they wouldn't be interested in it anyway. Sometimes we get some of the Baylor runners that come. That happens by chance, if it happens at all. College runners are involved in their own college programs, and they don't do a lot of road races.

ITR: What is the course record?

TC: The course record is from '99 - the first year of the race. The time is 17:36, for the open male. This is a strange race, because it is a 6000 meter race, which you don't see anywhere. Normally you see a 5000. Essentially this course goes up and down the Brazos River, it crosses one bridge, goes down one side of the river, and crosses back on the next bridge, and comes back. The shortest distance that this could possibly be done, it just turned out to be 6000 meters. If nothing else, I always tell the runners I try to recruit, you are going to get a personal record for 6000 meters, since no one ever runs 6000 meters.

ITR: How many miles is 6000 meters?

TC: It is 3.7.