Modesto Relays fade into history

Ed Brooks remembers reaching to the ground and picking up a 3-inch piece of crossbar.

That sliver had become a souvenir, the residue of an impromptu celebration. Before he left Modesto Junior College Stadium that spring night in 1942, Brooks -- 14 at the time -- scrawled these numbers onto the wood: 15-7¾.

That's 15 feet, 7¾ inches, the world record height cleared by pole vaulter Cornelius "Dutch" Warmerdam. Fans poured onto the field and destroyed the pole vault standard, and a few pieces of the bar are treasured by fans as keepsakes.

"I kept mine for many years," said Brooks, 82. "Everyone was so excited."

So began the Modesto Relays, the Biggest Little Track Meet in the World. It earned its title for the 32 world records set here, one reason why it grew into the nation's third-longest- running world-class track event.

Today would have marked its 68th renewal, but it's all over.

It ignited with headlines and ended in apathy. The Relays announced its move to Sacramento last September, a change mandated by dwindling crowds in recent years at MJC. The transplanted meet was supposed to be today at Hornet Stadium at California State University, Sacramento. But two months ago, uncertainty over sponsorship forced postponement to next year.

For the first time in 68 years, there will be no Relays -- not in Modesto, not in Sacramento, not anywhere.

Brooks feels the loss, and he's not alone. He's always been a sports fan, from the time he was a member of the last MJC basketball team to win its own tournament (1945) -- the state tournament back then -- to now.

Like many, he took pride in icons like Tom Moore who built the Relays into a magnet each spring for world-class stars like Carl Lewis, Ralph Boston, Evelyn Ashford, Edwin Moses, John Carlos, Maurice Greene, Jeremy Wariner, Stacy Dragila and countless others. Modesto defied all the odds until, well, the meet ran its course.

"It's sad to me that the Relays aren't here anymore," Brooks said. "But in this day and age, unless you've got some big stars out there, you might as well drop it."

Signs pointed to the end

So the Relays were dropped. The tipping point turned came last year. Perfect weather and a decent field in an Olympic year seemed encouraging, yet only 2,000 people attended. SaveMart Supermarkets, a loyal sponsor for the last decade -- it promoted the affair as a track meet-community fair -- had seen enough.

Other indications proved the end was near. The video board, a fan-friendly perk at the Relays during the SaveMart years, instead was featured at a concert across the street. MJC replaced the well-worn Chevron 400 synthetic surface with a sky-blue turf that, while OK for the school's purposes, lacked top-tier quality.

The truth was as clear as post-storm sunshine: Modesto no longer cared. Other than the band of supporters that propped up the Relays during the toughest times, the rank and file had walked away. Track and field's prime years in the United States -- the 1950s and '60s -- coincided with the Relays' heyday. Over the last 20 years, the sport itself deemed Modesto too remote to stage its marquee events and MJC too quaint visually for TV.

Track and field also suffered self-inflicted wounds as superstars such as Marion Jones, Tim Montgomery and others were shamed and ultimately retired by a flurry of substance abuse. Fans raced at warp speed toward other attractions like golf and NASCAR. Modesto embraced another speed sport, bicycle racing. Next year, the Amgen Tour of California is expected to run through Modesto in mid-May.

Only memories remain

That's why there are no Relays today. All that remains are memories:

- Mike Powell long-jumping a wind-aided 29-2½ in 1992, matching the legendary leap of Bob Beamon at the 1976 Olympics.

- Peter Snell and Jim Beatty dueling in the mile in 1963, a showdown race watched by 10,714 fans and monitored by the entire planet. Three world records fell that night.

- A behemoth named Ben Plucknett tossing the discus for a world record in 1981. Within a few years, he vanished from the sport -- steroids.

- Lewis, the track and field giant in 1980s, appearing at MJC six times.

- Dragila, pioneering a new discipline (women's pole vault) and using MJC as its launching pad, setting the final world record in 2000.

As for Brooks, he had not attended a Relays since the late 1940s. He had other responsibilities such as graduating from Cal and starting a successful career at Carnation. Meanwhile, he saved Warmerdam's sliver of crossbar along with the meet program until five years ago.

Seeing no reason to keep the memorabilia, he finally put it up for auction. Hoping for the best, he watched sadly while it fetched only $10.

It had been all but forgotten. Soon, so were the Relays.

Bee sports writer Ron Agostini can be reached at ragostini@modbee.com or 578-2302.

This story was originally published May 9, 2009 at 12:56 PM with the headline "Modesto Relays fade into history."