Some new wrinkles set for Butte run.

Byline: Paula Lincoln The Register-Guard

Chances are, you'll still see runners dressed in Fourth of July-themed outfits, men and women pushing young children in strollers, and the local elite runners waiting until the last minute to register to run in the Butte to Butte 10-kilometer road race.

Volunteers will line the course - which begins at Spencer Butte Middle School and ends at Skinner Butte Park - to hand out water and give times. Friends and family will shout encouragement to race and walk participants who will come in all ages, shapes and fitness levels.

Despite a change in management, Eugene's premier Fourth of July event - Wednesday's 34th Butte to Butte 10-kilometer race and 4.5-mile Mayor's Fitness Walk - largely will be unchanged from the previous years when it was put on by Northwest Event Management, Inc. which stepped aside after 14 years to focus on the 2008 Olympic Track & Field Trials scheduled for Hayward Field next summer.

`The race has been so good for so long, we basically kept most things the same,' said William Wyckoff of Eclectic Edge Racing, which is staging this year's event. `We looked for ways to spice things up a little.'

The changes to the event will be subtle and include more prizes and awards meant to recognize the first man and woman to climb the Donald Street Hill (King/Queen of the Uphill), the first man and woman to reach the corner of Fox Hollow and West Amazon Parkway (King/Queen of the Downhill), and sprint winners (points accumulated at all five mile markers).

Wyckoff said he and members of his staff are big fans of the Tour de France bicycle race and that the additional race challenges are based on the stage race.

Flowers and what is being described as `unique event garments' will be awarded to the overall winners as well as the top finishers in the youth (under 20), masters (40-59) and seniors (60 and over) categories.

Commemorative medallions will be given to age division winners, and for the first time there will be a team competition with separate divisions for elementary school, middle school, high school, collegiate, open, masters, corporate, seniors, government and running clubs, with awards to be given to the top three teams in each division. Scores will be based on the times of the top five finishers on each team.

Official race souvenir photographs of participants crossing the revamped finish line will be available to purchase online after the event as well, according to Eclectic Edge Racing.

Wyckoff, who has been managing events for the past 18 years, said he has put on events for as many as 5,000 people or as few as 100.

`We cover it all,' said Wyckoff, whose most recent gigs have included the Eugene Challenge Mile, Ridgeline Ramble, Eugene Truffle Shuffle, and providing the announcing for the National Cross Country Championships as well as the inaugural Eugene Marathon.

Wyckoff has been putting on events in Eugene for the past four years despite living in Colorado. He moved to Eugene a year and a half ago, though he maintains a small staff in Colorado and continues to travel there and elsewhere to manage events.

Wyckoff, a former high school track and cross country coach, said getting enough volunteers has been his biggest obstacle in organizing the Butte to Butte.

He's planning a volunteer appreciation party Thursday evening for the more than 175 volunteers he estimates he'll need to stage a successful event.

Challenges aside, Wyckoff said he's thrilled to be managing the Butte to Butte, which he describes as a great and well-loved event that has afforded him the opportunity to work with sponsors and other members of the community `who will do whatever it takes to put on an event of this magnitude,' Wyckoff said.

Wyckoff says he expects a record turnout this year.

`Right now, we're 54 percent ahead of last year's registration pace,' he said.