Ed Kozloff poses with Super Bowl XVI ticket winner, Michelle Dupke, and Miss Michigan.
Midway through 1981, the Motor City Striders received a call from the National Football League Alumni, who were planning Winterfest events and wanted a run to be part of Super Bowl XVI festivities. The club began months of planning, and all went smoothly until the Friday night before Winterfest.

An ice storm hit the area and on Saturday morning covered everything within a 50-mile radius with a cold, slick glaze. On my 33-mile drive to the Winterfest site, Pine Knob, I saw at least 35 cars had crashed along the highway.

Conditions worsened at the resort. The four-mile dirt race route surrounding Pine Knob was solid ice. The parking lot was dangerous too, but was being cleared. Snowplows were diverted to clear the mile route, and it was decided we would race two miles instead of four. WJR, the host radio station, announced the conditions and said events at Pine Knob would start later than scheduled.

However, by 10 a.m. (the start time for the kids' mile) hundreds of runners had arrived. With temperatures of 22 degrees, a -10 degrees wind chill and no place to go for warmth, the race was run. Matt Beamer, 12, of Clarkston, barely beat John Young, 13, of Grand Blanc, 6:02 to 6:03.

Kevin Kitze, 21, of Garden City, leads the first of two heats at the Super Bowl XVI NFL Alumni Winterfest Run.
By 10:30, 500 runners were ready to run two one-mile laps. Top runners powered over the icy course, lapping slower entries. Kevin Kitze, 21, of Garden City (running in spikes left in his car from cross- country season), won in 9:31, followed by Hugh Kuchta, 26, of East Lansing, in 9:36. Melissa Howell, 15, of Rochester, was the first woman in 12:17.

Throughout this time runners, heeding radio broadcasts, were arriving; thus, a second two-mile race was held an hour later. Kuchta, deciding to run again, won in 9:53, averaging 9:45 for both races. Gary Reffitt, 28, of Ypsilanti, who had finished third in the first race, again finished third in 10:12. Marsha Chapman, 31, of Lake Orion, was the first woman in 12:51.

With no indoor facility to house the crowd, the raffle and awards were held under an overhead shelter. The special prize, two Super Bowl tickets, was won by Michelle Dupke, a kids' mile runner. Awards were presented by a frozen Miss Michigan.

Dr. Ed Kozloff knows his Detroit running history. He has been president of the Motor City Striders more than 30 years. MR