Tacoma, WA

Sound to Narrows is a running event with a 50+ year tradition. The race is highlighted by a 12k run and includes a 12k walk, a 5k run and walk, and a 2k run. I entered the 12k walk, which started 45 minutes before the 12k run. Jacob Alfonso, the winner of the 12k run, blew past with a large lead at the 4 mile mark and easily held off his competition for a 2-1/2 minute margin of victory.

The Sound to Narrows (S2N) road race was created by The News Tribune sports reporter Dick Kunkle. Just how he conceived this idea is open to speculation. He fostered the idea from the Bay to Breakers (B2B) race in San Francisco that was sponsored by the San Francisco Examiner newspaper. That race had a lengthy history, as 1973 was the 63rd edition of the race. Whatever the reason for bringing the idea to Tacoma, Kunkle was a visionary who put together a great community event.

Kunkle conceived the S2N idea in the early 1970s before the running boom was firmly established. One has to admire his salesmanship in convincing Tom Cross of Pierce County Parks and Recreation, Dinwiddie Fuhrmeister of The News Tribune and Steve Orfanos of the Metropolitan Park District to sponsor this event. This was the first attempt at an athletic event of this magnitude in the area. Could they have envisioned it would be going strong nearly 50 years later, with thousands of participants of all abilities enjoying a run for fun on the second Saturday in June?