"Toe The Mark"

"My competitive running," naval historian David D. Bruhn writes, "ended in late autumn 1976" when, "running on a muddy trail along the American River early one morning, I slipped and slid into the river." He had run for Butte College; later, after enlisting in the Navy, he graduated from Chico State and "earned a commission via Officers Candidate School." He met his future wife, Nancy, a Navy nurse, at a base in Colorado.

His cross-country coach, Al Baeta, emphasized the importance of holding on to energizing memories. "Running in Chico in the 1970s is one of those memories." And so, drawing on Enterprise-Record archives and interviews with runners and coaches, Bruhn tells the story of the running programs not only at Chico State, but Chico High and PV High, in the 70s. "Toe The Mark" ($29 in paperback from heritagebooks.com) features a foreword by Walt Schafer--no stranger to running himself--and 114 historical photographs.

Tracing the running programs year by year with plenty of stats, the book also weaves personal stories into the narrative, making it not only an extraordinary reference but one that captures the story of legendary track and cross-country coaches (such as Bill Gregg, Chuck Sheley, Jack Yerman, Dale Edson, Cherrie Sherrard, and more) who got the best out of their runners.

In an email, Bruhn notes that "The two individuals pictured on the front cover are Wildcat All-American and 4:01 miler Kim Ellison, and Wildcat All-American and Olympic Swim Trials participant (as a 16-year old Panther) Jill Symons. Symons is (little argument) the greatest multi-sport female endurance athlete Chico has produced to date."

In 1977 Symons, along with Girls Cross Country teammates Suzanne Richter (All-American at Cal, "still number six on the all-time 5,000 meters list"), marathoner Luanne Park, Julie Selchau, and Darcy Burleson, were known as "Charlie's Angels" (after coach Chuck and a certain TV series), arguably, Bruhn writes me, "the greatest high school prep team of any sport in the North Section."

"Toe The Mark" is the ultimate runner's high.

Bruhn is hosting a "1970s Runners Reunion Weekend," August 27-28 in Chico, with more than fifty participants; for information on signed copies of his book write commanderbruhn@gmail.com.