Pioneer Road Race 9 Mile/5k

11/07/2025

See you next week!
https://runsignup.com/pioneerroadrun

10/24/2024

NEW for 2024: Course Record Challenge Coins!
Our friends at Hat Trick Laserworks created some unique prizes for anyone who breaks a course record at the Pioneer Road Run 9mi or 5k. These records date back to 1971 so they won't go down easy. But if you do it... this coin (or the 9mi version) will be all yours! Share this post with your fast friends!

10/14/2024

In case you missed it, here is the link to register for this wonderful race.

The Pioneer Road Run is on Saturday November 16, 2024. It includes the following events: Pioneer Road Run 9 miler and Pioneer Road Run 5k.

11/12/2022

Results are up! Thank you everyone who came out and ran and volunteered. See you at the Turkey Trot!

The Pioneer Road Run is on Saturday November 12, 2022. It includes the following events: Pioneer Road Run 9 miler and Pioneer Road Run 5k.

11/07/2022

Don't let this cold Monday detour you from signing up for the Pioneer Road Race this Saturday! The weather is supposed to be perfect!!!

The Pioneer Road Run is on Saturday November 12, 2022. It includes the following events: Pioneer Road Run 9 miler and Pioneer Road Run 5k.

11/13/2021

Thank you all who came out and helped us celebrate 50 amazing years or the Pioneer road race. Results are up!

The Pioneer Road Run- 50th Anniversary is on Saturday November 13, 2021. It includes the following events: Pioneer Road Run 9 miler and Pioneer Road Run 5k.

11/12/2021

https://runsignup.com/Race/OR/Phoenix/PioneerRoadRunVirtual

Online registration is open until 6pm tonight! Packet pick up will be at Phoenix High School starting at 7:15am. There will be no water aid stations along the course so please carry water with you. We look forward to seeing you tomorrow!!!

The Pioneer Road Run- 50th Anniversary is on Saturday November 13, 2021. It includes the following events: Pioneer Road Run 9 miler and Pioneer Road Run 5k.

11/10/2021

From the founders Jerry & Zellah- 70% of the people currently registered for the race Saturday weren't even born when the first Pioneer Run was held.

Pioneer Run – 1971…50+ years…
Southern Oregon Runner’s 1st Race
Southern Oregon’s Oldest Run
The Phoenix – Talent Connection

1971 - Runners were an oddity and not well-received in society, they were mocked with chants; Need a ride, Why are you running, Getting tired, Get in the car, it’s faster, etc. Warm-ups were made of cotton, shorts were nylon and were only a shell, no inner liner. No wick-away-tech clothing; chaffing was common. Shoes had to be broken-in or major blisters would result. Stop watches were of the 15 minute sweep-hand variety and had to be wound by hand. The digital watch, computers, and GPS, were not even figments of someone’s imagination.

A fledgling shoe company, Blue Ribbon Sports, would become Nike the year after Pioneer. There were no running magazines; information on running was non-existent. Texas Instruments invented the first hand-held calculator; it could only add, subtract, multiply, and divide – cost $150. Intel introduced the first microprocessor computer chip, a prelude to the mass production of computers. Price of gasoline - $.40 per gallon, average annual income - $10,600, cost of new house - $25,500 Medford’s population – 32,500.

The original Pioneer logo was “borrowed” from a magazine and the race was named after Pioneer Road. The event started and finished at the door of the Phoenix High gym, and as it does today, 50 years later, followed Colver Road, made an out and back loop on Pioneer Road, to Walden Lane, then looped through Talent next to the railroad tracks and back to Phoenix - “The Phoenix-Talent Connection.”

The course was measured with a “wheel” made by Jim Dawson. Jim drove and Jerry sat in the back of a pick-up going very slowly; to do otherwise caused the wheel to skip. 28 males finished the 9 mile course and 4 females finished the 2-mile. This was an era where females were not expected to run as far as 9 miles. There were no aide stations or age-groups; participants were just happy to have a race to run.

A 21-year old recent college graduate, Zellah, stood with a clipboard, stop-watch, and pencil, at the start/finish; she timed all participants. Popsicle sticks with hand-written numbers were handed out in numerical order to finishers. Jerry ran the first 9 mile race in 54:03, breaking the six-minute barrier in 53:48 the next year. Much history and nostalgia has been experienced over 50-plus years of longevity.

Jerry & Zellah Swartsley
Founders: Pioneer Run – 1971 - Southern Oregon Runners - 1969

11/02/2021

The Pioneer Road Run- 50th Anniversary is on Saturday November 13, 2021. It includes the following events: Pioneer Road Run 9 miler and Pioneer Road Run 5k.

11/12/2020