PEACE RACE Boardman's Fox will end his running retirement

The Spartans' athletic director will run his first competitive race in seven years.
By JOHN BASSETTI
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
BOARDMAN -- Jim Fox thought he had run his last competitive race in 1994.
Then several weeks ago, a friend called with a special request.
That friend was Ted Rupe, director of the Peace Race, which will be held for the 27th time on Sunday.
Now that the retirement is suspended for a day, here's the rest of the story.
Fox had his farewell tour seven years ago at age 50 when he ran in both the Great Race in Pittsburgh and the Peace Race.
"Team Nike-Allegheny out of western Pennsylvania was putting together a team to run in the national Masters championships," Fox said. "We won the Masters championship for the 10K. I felt that was nice way to say good-bye to my career."
That was October 1994, the same month he participated in his last Peace Race.
At the time, Fox ran the 5K. This Sunday, it'll be the 10K.
He isn't calling it a token appearance, but he isn't predicting any concrete results, either.
Layoff: "I run every day, but I haven't raced any distance in seven years," said Fox, Boardman High athletic director since 1997.
"Most of the time my schedule at school doesn't allow me to fit in runs. It's not easy taking time away on weekends for road races."
His daily runs now last about an hour, usually coming either in the morning or after school. Sometimes, it's whenever he can find time.
"Now, it's a matter of time constraints and after-school activities. That makes it difficult to plan a strict training schedule in order to prepare for racing."
Fox estimated that his best 10K time in the past was around 32 or 33 minutes.
"I don't have any aspirations of reaching that goal now. I don't know what I'm capable of doing. I think I'll just try to surprise myself."
So far: Fox ran in the first couple Peace Races when the distance was 25K. His participation was sporadic after that. Through the years, he's run in seven or eight.
This Sunday, Fox will be running at the behest of Rupe.
"I'm doing it for a friend," Fox said. "A while back, he asked me if I'd run. At the Spartan Invitational, I saw Rupe and he asked me for my final answer. I said yes. It'll be good to see all my old friends in road running and those I've known through cross country and track and the promotion of running."
Rupe coaches Maplewood High's cross country team which runs in the Spartan Invitational, which Fox directs.
The Invitational drew 3,456 runners this year. Fox likes to think it stimulates running on the local level. Likewise, his entry in the Peace Race may have a spinoff effect for high schoolers who know him as an overseer.
"Maybe it'll be good to see their race director as a runner."
Decline: Reasons for the drop in the Peace Race's popularity over the years, Fox believes, are several.
"When it started in the late 1970s, there weren't so many nationally known road races. It was truly a premier event. The number of races across the country swelled in the '80s and it was difficult to find a race with a national flavor. The other thing was the financial resources of those trying to promote it. It isn't as extensive as it was before. We don't have the economy in this area we once had, but the small sponsors have done a great job attracting runners to come in."
The Peace Race's initial mission was to promote world harmony.
The transformation of ideology and political power in the former Soviet Union lessened the America's conflict with its traditional enemy.
This autumn marks Fox's 41st year of distance running.
He started at age 16 when he was a junior in cross country at Penn Hills High in Pittsburgh.