The Route 66 town of Claremore, Oklahoma, will host the Andy Payne Route 66 Race 5K and fun run on the morning of April 12 as part of the highway’s centennial celebrations.
The Claremore Daily Progress reports that proceeds from the race will benefit the Claremore Museum of History. Those who sign up by March 27 will receive a free commemorative T-shirt.
The fun run takes place at the Claremore High School track. The five-kilometer race will begin west of the intersection of East Stuart Roosa and Florence Avenue.
Payne, a member of the Cherokee Nation born in the nearby town of Foyil, Oklahoma, in 1907, was one of the most remarkable sports stories in U.S. history.
In 1928, Andy participated in C.C. Pyle’s International Transcontinental Footrace (aka the Bunion Derby), a 3,423-mile trek from California to New York, much of it on Route 66.
Improbably, he beat nearly 200 other, better-established runners to come in first place and win the $25,000 prize. He completed the race in 573 hours — averaging about 10 minutes a mile across the entire country on primitive roads, mountain grades and nasty weather, including a near-blizzard near Amarillo.
Payne eventually became a longtime clerk for the Oklahoma Supreme Court and died in 1977.
A number of books have been written about the race. The best one, in my opinion, was Geoff Williams’ “C.C. Pyle’s Amazing Foot Race” (Amazon link).
Payne also has been commemorated with a statue in his hometown of Foyil, right next to Route 66.
(Image from the Andy Payne Route 66 Race)