Open a can of worms and they get away from you. Michigan Runner founders did so in April 1979; now we mark the start of our 25th year letting loose more slippery, writhing objects: a series of stories about our state's 25:

* Most-interesting races (this issue).

* Top men and women runners (May/June).

* Most-influential running people (July/August).

* Most-gifted high-school runners (Sept/Oct).

* Top books about running (Nov/Dec).

* Editors look back (Jan/Feb 2004)

All will embrace the last quarter-century, since MR started covering Michgan's rich and amazing running scene. The challenge, starting with this issue, is that each race is interesting, every runner will have opinions, and all are right. From the sweep and energy of mega-runs to distinct, quirky smaller races to that one-time event with the sun rising through the icicles ... Who's to judge which is "most"?

There's no way we can cover "all."

Which should make it even more fun, and provocative, to try. Start a magazine, running, anything and you are freeing worms, germs of problems and possibilities.

Can the cans, we say. Let them go!

Mega Races
Crim Festival of Races, Flint - Named for former-state legislator and still-runner Bobby Crim, this late-August celebration sets a standard with its world-class 10-mile road race, tons of shorter runs, pre-race expo and post-race carnival, starting and ending near downtown's famous red-brick streets. If Flint has troubles (What city doesn't?), Crim shows its people have the energy, spirit and know-how to prevail.

River Bank Run, Grand Rapids - Handed from long-time sponsor Old Kent Bank to Fifth Third Bank three years ago, this 25K draws world-class runners with open prize money, and top Americans as a USATF-championship race. The 26-year-old RBR starts downtown, goes out alongside the Grand River, crosses it and comes back - offering crowd support and May scenery all the way.

Detroit Free Press/Flagstar Bank International Marathon - Too big for one country to contain it, the "Freep" (named for 26-year founding sponsor The Detroit Free Press) crosses the Detroit River into Canada and back, via bridge and tunnel, circles Belle Isle and showcases Michigan's largest city. Flagstar Bank and Greektown Casino have boosted the race as sponsors. The Ford Field finish, which started last year, is not to miss.

Races for the Cure - Nowhere is the charity-running phenomenon more evident than in this nationwide series sponsored by the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Detroit's RFC is Michigan's largest footrace, having drawn 25,000 participants in last year's 11th running. Grand Rapids and Battle Creek offer versions too.

Other Classics
Mackinac Island Eight-Mile - The island - a Michigan icon with its historic fort, downtown, mansions, and car-less roads roamed by bikes and horses - is a treat any time, especially for this race around its perimeter. Held for 33 years on the Saturday after Labor Day, it offers breath-taking views of the Mackinac Bridge, Lake Huron, Arch Rock and other favorites, cool, clear air and the fact you're there.

Volkslaufe, Frankenmuth - German for "The People's Race, this July 4 blowout offers 20K, 10K and 5K competitions, plus a 2.5K Gem?tlichkeit ("fun time") run. Enjoy fireworks, spaghetti suppers, chicken dinners, live music and racing through the world's largest covered bridge. Beer-stein awards for winners. Hot fun in the summertime, German-style.

Seaway Run, Muskegon - Held at the start of the Port City's Summer Celebration. The popular 5K sticks near the shore of Muskegon Lake; the 15K odyssey hugs the same coast out to Lake Michigan, passes Buster Keaton's old Actors' Colony, traverses a boardwalk near the big lake, and loops back.

Dexter-Ann Arbor Half-Marathon - What started as a 15-mile run between cities 30 years ago has grown into a two-day festival: with kids run and expo one day, then 5K, 10K and half-marathon (the showcase event) the next. Races finish on Main Street, where runners can replenish carbs and calories at the Taste of Ann Arbor Festival.

Ludington Lakestride - Half-marathon and 5K start and end alongside Lake Michigan near a lighthouse. The long run includes wooded trails, scrambling up a short dune, crossing a dam and cruising between park campsites before returning to lakeside roads.

Detroit Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot - Michigan's largest 10K draws more than 5,000 runners yearly to romp through the Motor City's Thanksgiving Day parade route. Bask in crowd cheers, stay for bands, floats and giant balloons, then go home to feast guilt-free and watch the Lions lose on TV.

Cherry Festival 15K, Traverse City - Flat except for the monstrous "Mount McKinley," which soars midway. Running down is no bowl of cherries either: miss the turn at McKinley's end and you're in the bay. Finishes on parade route; enjoy cheering crowds, then come back for the parade.

Belle Isle New Year's Eve Run - For 33 years Detroiters have rung out the old running on the island. Started small, with director Jeanne Bocci hosting a post-race spaghetti supper at her home, became a mega-race held at Cobo Hall with big sponsors, then retreated to the island. Every kid in the fun run gets a trophy.

Only in Michigan
Steve's Run, Dowagiac - Held in honor of cancer victim Steve Briegel, Michigan's original road and trail races take adventurers through a wildlife refuge, golf course, woods and graveyard. Includes music stations, European banners and direction signs, hurdling hay bales and stone fences, and director Ron Gunn's signature "Fire up!" cry.

Run Thru Hell, Hell - The name alone makes it everyone's favorite t-shirt. Add 10- and 4.8-mile courses designed by sadists, August heat and dust, and you have a classic. Why not an ultra from Hell to Climax one year, then Climax to Hell the next?

Dances With Dirt, Hell - Haven't had enough of the devil's latitutdes? C'mon back for September ultras "on slightly-marked, hilly trails with piss-poor footing ... at best!" the entry form warns/invites. Pinckney Recreation Area hosts 50-mile and 50K solo runs, plus a 100K relay that offers "surprise awards for cool teams and outrageous behavior."

Great Lakes Relay - Ten-person teams tackle roughly 270 miles of northern Lower Peninsula roads and trails from Lake Michigan to Lake Huron, or vice versa, during three July days each year. Age and sex handicaps make it hard to tell who's winning; eccentric trail markings make it hard to tell where you're at. Bond with teammates sharing jokes, miles and sweaty vans.

Pictured Rocks Run, Munising - In its 28th year, this 11-miler traverses ridges and woods, passes waterfalls, streams and Lake Superior near surreal-colored sandstone cliffs. There's an infamous first hill out of town, sand switch-back trail near the end, and everything in between ...

Mount Baldhead Challenge, Saugatuck - Nothing like climbing 282 steps up a monster dune midway through a 15K to remind you how fun anaerobic endurance is. After the steps come sandy paths through woods near Lake Michigan. Add start and finish in art-filled Saugatuck, and you're a "step up" in every way.

Keweenaw Trail Festival, Hancock and Eagle Harbor - Head north - way north - for 10K, 5.8K and 25K races featuring dunes, mountains, trails, creeks, gorges, bears, etc. during two days in mid-July. (Run just one or two races if you insist on not being insane.) Chill in the big lake they call Gitche-Gumee, if you dare.

Oddities
The Ultimate Runner, Jackson - One-day pentathlon included races of 10K, 400 and 100 meters, one mile, and - to wrap things up - a marathon. Chronicled by Don Kardong in "Hills, Hawgs & Ho Chi Minh" and by John L. Parker Jr. in "And Then the Vulture Eats You." "I'm a distance guy," recalls Ultimate entrant Steve Webster. "The sprints were brutal. I was no longer in contention by the time we got to the marathon, but I was leading it - feeling good about that much, anyway - when, ZOOM! Ella Willis, the annual women's champ, passed me to capture the darn thing outright." The Ultimate, born in 1983, died in 1988. RIP.

Run the Reuther, Detroit - Motor City Striders head Ed Kozloff arranged this once-only race on I-696 for Dec. 10, 1989, three days before the freeway opened. "We expected a few hundred runners and wound up with more than 5,000," he remembers. "Entries flooded in and we ordered hundreds more t-shirts daily. The crowds were so large we held up the start an hour, but we pulled it off."

Super Bowl 5K - Pontiac's still-new Silverdome furnished a toasty home for the 1982 Super Bowl, but it was 15 degrees below zero outdoors for this once (and once only) race. Actress Mariel Hemingway, who had planned to run to promote her film "Personal Best," never showed, but hundreds of hardier Michigan runners did. "There was an ice storm the night before, so we took the race off the roads and offered two mile-laps around the parking lot," says director Kozloff. "We wanted to show the football game's worldwide audience what fun we have during winters. They haven't held a Super Bowl up north since."

Grand Rapids Symphony Trail Run, Cannonsburg - Wild met refined in these end-of-millennium 5Ks at a ski resort east of Rockford. Started up a steep ski hill (folks trying to run it found walkers passing them), then back down over rutted and treacherous terrain into woods with tuba players in trees and quartets in clearings serenading you to your slowest, strangest and possibly-best time ever. Outdoor concert, picnic, potables and fireworks capped the night.

Emily's Detroit Runs - "Michigan has had its share of road- racing personalities," says MR publisher Art McCafferty, "but none had the visibility of Emily Gail and her downtown races. The events (which peaked in the 1970s and '80s) were modeled on the scale of Bloomsday or Bay to Breakers: while there was serious running involved in the race, it was also a party atmosphere. Some drew upwards of 10,000 runners. After a few years, Emily and her partner 'Pooh' (Herb Squires) shut down everything. Emily continues to promote events in Hawaii, including the Ironman, and recently tried to make the Futures tour in golf."

Clio Homecoming Race - Writer Ron Marinucci remembers driving through Flint to this 1997 race "when the sky turned a nasty dark green, with a driving rain and wind that was blowing semis across three lanes." Weather broke, Ron drove to Clio and the race went on, with director John Gault biking out a new course away from downed power lines, overturned boats, trailers and picnic tables. "Absolutely remarkable," says Ron, a true Michigan runner who doesn't let little things like tornadoes stand in his way.