By Barbara Perkins

Rod Perkins with Thomas Haines, the winner of the Boys Under 10 category sometime in the early 1980’s.

It’s hard to believe the Memorial Day Road Race turns 30 this year. We all know it now as a well run annual event sponsored by the Norfolk Volunteer Fire Department with its proceeds benefitting the William F. Kelley Memorial Scholarship. Over the years, it has truly become part of the fabric of the town, but it wasn’t always so. It used to be, that after watching the parade on Memorial Day the kids would race (adults would wander) back up the hill to the fire station for coffee, punch and doughnuts. Then, folks would disburse. The morning was great fun, but a let down followed. All the pomp and circumstance of the first major happening of the summer season drew people together, and set the stage, but then left folks all cheered up with nowhere to go. The idea for Norfolk’s road race was born when running partners, Rod Perkins, Martin Dodd and Peter Curtiss were on their way back from a competition in a nearby town. Filled with excitement, and exercise induced endorphins, the guys decided Norfolk should have a race of its own. Once back at the Perkins’ house, the guys pitched the idea to Linda, and the concept began to take shape. They decided the primary goal was to make it an event that would drive town involvement. From the runners’ perspective, the loop of Mountain, Westside and Litchfield Roads was the perfect course. Linda offered that the ball field provided a perfect staging area for the start and, by putting the finish line at the Village Green, spectators could easily walk between the two locations as the runners made their way around “five mile drive”. With the seeds of the idea firmly planted, Dodd and Curtiss went back to college and left the Perkins to see it into being. Over the coming weeks, the two worked more of the details and with a few phone calls they enlisted the help of friends, including former residents Shirley and Perry Hunter, Edo and Bill Donaldson, Betty and Jack Barlow, Patricia and Barry Lawrence and Betty Curtiss. Though there are no official records from the early days, Perkins recalls there were around 35 runners the first year. “From the start, we decided not to have it be a sanctioned race. We wanted it to be a town event. The turnout was small, but it was a good start. Then with each year, we became better organized and, as running grew in popularity, so did the participation.” Perkins also enthusiastically recalls the T-shirts from those early days. “In the third year, we started to work with local artist Nina Ritson to come up with designs that would highlight or showcase architectural elements from around town. It was great fun and we set the bar high, but Nina always came up with dynamite designs.” After overseeing the race for ten years, Linda and Rod Perkins felt they needed to step back and let someone else take over the event. After much thought and discussion, they decided to approach the Fire Department, who had long participated in the event by selling hot dogs, hamburgers and drinks on the Village Green. Holding steady at around 250 participants, the current race is TAC/USA Measurement Certified and follows nearly the same track, though the starting line was moved from in front of the ball field onto the Westside Road flats. For more information, and an application for this year’s race, visit the Fire Department’s Web site at www.norfolkfire.org.