Since 1982, CTTR has been among the most challenging Texas ultras. The race was started by Luke Barber, Tom O’Brian, and Ed Weadcock, and at first was a forty-eight miler called the "B&O Cross Timbers Trail Run." Since the beginning, a big part of race philosophy has been to encourage runners to finish. David Horton won the inaugural run, leading from gun to done. Fifty percent of the eighteen starters finished in bad conditions (which figure predominantly in CTTR history – in some years the course had to be hastily rerouted the night before the race), described as including seventeen straight hours of rain before, during, and after the run, and a high temperature of thirty-nine degrees.

The second CTTR was also contested in lots of mud, although this time the rain stopped shortly after the start. The winner was 25-year old Jim Umpleby, described in UltraRunning magazine as a "student of mysticism." 1983 saw the first team competition for the Texas Cup, between Houston’s Dorking Sportsmen and Team Thistle (sort of a shadow group whose membership was by invitation only) from Dallas. Team Thistle prevailed. The original trophy was an men’s athletic cup with golf ball-sized balls dangling on both sides. The losing team had to take it home.

Other highlights:

1985: "Watermelon-sized" hail falls on the course the night before the race. More mud. Hot & humid.

1987: Course lengthened to fifty miles so that Cross Timbers would be a Western States 100 qualifier. Hot with dry trail. Dennis Fugate takes over as RD.

1989: CTTR is coming into its own. Ninety-one starters from thirteen states.

1990: Another wet one. Rain, mud, near-freezing temperatures.

1993: Jay Norman, Betty Norman, and Jack Johnson assume race director responsibilities. A 30k is added.

1998: My second time running CTTR, and some of the trail was underwater. I actually did some swimming.

2000: Brandon Sybrowsky’s 6:33:45 breaks the course record, which had stood since 1988. This is even more impressive since shoreline erosion and bluff landslides have made the course longer and more difficult over the years. Also, Sybrowsky stopped during the run to help out with a lost dog. Tony Bridwell becomes RD.

The following is from a pamphlet titled Cross Timbers Hiking Trail, published by the Army Corps of Engineers, Tulsa District: "The origin of the term Cross Timbers is obscure. We only know that during most of the 19^th century it was applied to the two broad belts of timber that extended northward from central Texas to the Red River and far beyond through territorial lands that are now Oklahoma to the south Canadian River just south of Oklahoma City…Historians agree that Cross Timbers played a most important role in both the economic and ethnic factors of the region it penetrated…it served as an almost impenetrable barrier…the Plain Indians tried burning it out, cowboys coming up the Chisholm Trail cussed it and tried to avoid it, and sodbusters attempted to wipe it out with axes and plows…that barrier has never been completely erased…"

And, "In marked contrast to the rich, black soil of the prairie, that of the Cross Timbers was thin and sandy, with occasional outcroppings of clay. In a few places there were heavy flat stones, which were called iron rocks to indicate their weight and to distinguish them from the red sandstone found in some places…the trees in this area included the blackjack…usually found on rough rocky land…on the level sandy land grew the post oaks…"

I spoke with Jack Johnson about race history. He said that the original race director group broke up after Ed Weadcock moved away from Texas. Dennis Fugate got involved simply because he wanted to keep the race going. Years later Dennis would get some reward for his efforts, when a photo of him running CTTR was published as the cover of an issue of UltraRunning.

Johnson and the Normans entered the picture when Fugate relocated out of state. Their motivation was the same – to save a great race for the ultra community. They added a sub-ultra distance to attract more athletes and to introduce shorter distance road runners to the trail. Regarding the team challenge, Jack said "The neat part of all this was the night before, the two groups (or likely parts of the groups) sat around the fire and talked about the "rules." Like how may men/women were running. How to make the contest fair (especially fairer for the side you were on). I was never involved in this, but heard lots of references to it during and after each race." Jay Norman, a founding member of North Texas Trail Runners, ran on dirt trail for the first time on the Cross Timbers Hiking Trail, in 1986. He fell in love with trail running and ran there almost exclusively. Becoming part of race management seemed like a natural thing for him to do.

Tony Bridwell (from Oklahoma) worked with the Normans to organize the 1999 race, before assuming full control. Tony had been thinking about starting a new race in his area when he learned that the Normans would no longer be directing the run . Without race directing experience, Bridwell felt that a race like this might be too big for him to handle, but he liked the idea of moving into an established event rather than starting a new one from scratch. As with others before him, one motivation for making the big commitment to race management was the preservation of CTTR. The field for the fifty miler has decreased, which suits Tony as he feels he can give the runners more attention. The 30k has been replaced by a twenty-five mile event. A half-marathon and five mile run were added last year, which introduced more road runners to trail running.

The Houston Trail Runners Extreme group, led by Mariela Botella, has given Tony lots of support. They got involved because two of their members spoke so highly of the race – the tough course and friendly atmosphere. Mariela put together a web site (geocities.com/cross_timbers_04) to promote CTTR. Tony is always looking for volunteers. If you can help, email him at [email protected].

"Reprinted with permission from Scott Eppelman's Ultra Texas column in the March 2005 issue of Inside Texas Running."
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