Fifty Years of “The McGowan”

This is a “Sunday Story” – no politics here, just the story of a cross country “institution” in Ohio – “the McGowan”.

Covid

I guess it’s one of the “benefits” of Covid.  The Cross Country (running) Invitational at Watkins Memorial High School started with just a few schools back in 1974.  It grew through the 1980’s and 90’s, then exploded in size during the 2000’s.  It was renamed for its founder, Coach John McGowan in 2003, and to the Cross Country world of Ohio it is simply known today as “the McGowan”.  This year there were 2187 runners who completed the course (high school 3.1 miles, middle school 2.0 miles), and a total of 146 teams fighting for trophies in the sixteen races.

And what about Covid?  Well technically the Watkins/McGowan Invitational traces all the way from 1974 to 2024, fifty-one years.  But in 2020, the “Covid” year, only ten teams were allowed in the “Woods and Mud” meet on that Saturday in September, carefully distancing their team camps, arriving late and leaving early in cars rather than buses, and masking until two minutes before the race (it was the rule).  So there was a meet, but it wasn’t “the McGowan”.  

So 2023 was fifty years of a meet at Watkins, and 2024 was the fiftieth anniversary of the Watkins/McGowan Invitational.  Thanks to Covid, we got to celebrate twice. 

Cool and Fast

It was an anniversary, but that wasn’t the only exception of the 2024 edition of the McGowan.  It’s seldom that the Saturday after Labor Day starts with a cool 40 degrees, and even less likely that there was no rain for weeks before the race.  What’s bad for the local farmers is great for cross country running conditions.  The paths through the woods were hard and fast, and the typical “mud spots” were completely dry.  So it wasn’t a surprise to coaches and knowing fans that times were fast, and when runners run fast, everyone is happy at a cross country meet!! 

Why do teams like to come to Watkins Memorial High School, year-after-year?  Sure “we” (well, I used to be a bigger part of we, but I still take a little credit) run a great meet.  The races start on time, the management bends over backwards to solve problems, and the course is well marked and prepped for running.  There’s always great competition, individually and for teams.  There are lots of races,  and not just for the “best” runners.  John McGowan taught us that Cross Country is for every kid on the team, from the fastest to the kid struggling at the “end”.  So every kid on the team gets to run at the McGowan.

The Woods

But the biggest draw is “the woods”.  Over two miles of the 3.1 mile the high school course are on wood trails.  That used to be a lot more common in high school cross country, but “modern” courses are likely to be around playing fields; smooth and fast, but not challenging or interesting (and unshaded for the hot late summer meets).   So teams come for the meet, but they really come for a run “in the woods”. 

 John McGowan set it up that way, and built some of the trails himself.  Those of us who came “after” John, continued to work on the trails, widening them out, and improving things a little more each year.  The creek crossings now have bridges, the “swamp” now has a boardwalk.  But the “woods” at Watkins still remain unique in Ohio cross country competition.

Tradition

I’ve only been a part of the meet for forty-six years.  John McGowan was with me on the finish line yesterday. He’s still helping the kids struggling after they spent their all on the course.  So was his brother Lonnie, and others who can measure their “McGowan” service in decades.  And the current Coach, John Jarvis, and his staff, Nathan Corum, Scott Parks and Lance Westbrook do a great job of the tough work of putting the meet together, from maps and starting assignments to erecting fences and filling holes in the fields.  It’s an effort that includes the whole current Watkins cross country team, the “labor” of Labor Day practice. They carry on the tradition, from John, to me, to them.

The officiating crew has been the same for at least the last thirty years as well.  Doug and Jeff O’Brien and Penny Zuber do a great job of getting kids “within” the rules. They quietly and calmly deal with whatever infractions might occur.  They fit in perfectly with a meet designed, not for management, or for officials, or even for coaches.  The “McGowan” is about the kids, the runners; and Doug, Jeff and Penny are too.

Finish Line

For me, the finish line is fun.  It’s also the place to see “everyone you ever knew” from decades of cross country coaching.  Old runners, old coaches, old friends; all stop by for a conversation, held in about twenty minute increments between the finish of one race and the next.  Some are still coaching, some come back to reminisce about “their years” at the McGowan. And some just want to catch on the “old retired guys”.   

And there are always the stories.  This year:  a girl from Olentangy Orange High School ran within seconds of the course record, set way back in 2007 by Claire Durkin who went on to win the state championship.  And this year, an unnamed middle school boy discovered why a lunch of bean and bacon soup wasn’t a great pre-race meal (it was evident at the finish line – I’ll leave it at that – so did he).   Orange juice for breakfast isn’t good either. 

The Saturday after Labor Day, like the phases of the moon and the change of the seasons, is just what it is:  the day of the McGowan Invitational at Watkins.  It’s a checkpoint on the calendar, and after all of these years, a moment that echoes back in time.  And it was a good day yesterday, though it will take me a week to recover.  But don’t worry, I’ll be back in the woods, and on the line next year too.  Come say hello.

The Sunday Story Series

Author: Marty Dahlman

I'm Marty Dahlman. After forty years of teaching and coaching track and cross country, I've finally retired!!! I've also spent a lot of time in politics, working campaigns from local school elections to Presidential campaigns.