The Butler Road Race runs on.

Next Saturday marks the 40th anniversary of the 5-mile and 2-kilometer event that began as a celebration of the nation's bicentennial.

It's developed into a celebration of running.

“Over 130 competitive medals have to be distributed after this race,” said Mike Franko, now in his 16th year as BRR president. “We get quite a crowd and a lot of the same runners and families keep coming back.”

Approximately 550 runners pounded the pavement for the BRR last year. Former Butler Road Race president Ron Brandon said more than 1,000 have shown up for the event in past years.

“The history is pretty amazing,” Brandon said. “World-class athletes have come from Kenya, New Zealand ... We used to give out quite a bit of prize money.”

The BRR debuted as a 10K with Sam Bair being the first winner in 1976. Malcolm East won the 10K five times while Tammy Slusser of Monroeville won three times on the women's side.

Franko said a number of Olympians used to run in the race.

“We had a lot of world-caliber runners gracing our streets,” he said. “But as time went on, some of their handlers had different demands. Are you going to fly my guy in? Are you going to put him up?

“We decided to make it more of a hometown race, bring it back to our grass roots.”

The BRR became a charitable event at the same time Brandon came up with the idea of turning the proceeds from the event into cross country scholarships for qualified area high school seniors.

The then-president worked hard to attain 501(c)3 non-profit status for the race with the Internal Revenue Service.

“That took a lot of time and patience, but it was worth it,” Brandon said.

To date, the Butler Road Race has paid out $372,850 in scholarship money to 701 high school cross country athletes over the past 22 years. The BRR switched to the scholarship format in 1992.

Running Times Magazine had the Butler Road Race ranked as one of the top 100 10K races in the country. It is currently the longest continuously running annual race in Western Pennsylvania.

But it almost died off in 1992.

“The YMCA was one of our prime sponsors and they weren't sure they could continue with us because we didn't have official charitable status,” Brandon said. “We (BRR committee) had a meeting and some thought it might be time to put the event to bed.

“That's when we decided to change our mission. Cross country runners work hard and they're always good kids. But other than family and a few friends, they don't have a fan base when they compete ... certainly not like football and basketball. We decided to raise scholarship money for them.

“I know those scholarships have made a difference in kids' lives,” he added.

He related a story that five years into the scholarship program, the mother of a Karns City runner who had just graduated high school thanked the committee for the scholarship program. She said her daughter was just an average student when she saw a KC teammate win a $500 BRR scholarship. She wanted the same, applied herself in school over her final two years, graduated with a 3.4 grade point average, earned the scholarship and went on to college.

The scholarship program — and the race — have been on a roll ever since.

Eleven national single age records have been set on the 5-mile course. Job Christiansen set the boys national record times for age 4, 5, 7 and 8. Lou Lodovico has the record times for ages 73, 79, 85, 86, 87, 88 and 89.

Jake Walker set the BRR male 5-mile record time of 24 minutes, 32 seconds in 2008. Nicole Blaesser set the female record of 29:04 in 2009. Butler's Gary Garman ran the BRR's first 2K in 6:11 in 2000. That time has yet to be beaten.

“I started getting involved with the race because I knew so many people on the race committee,” Franko said. “We're proud of the direction it's taken and how many people it's helped.”

Franko was a cross country runner himself at Butler County Community College and Slippery Rock University.

Slusser has more victories — three in the 10K, seven in the 5-mile — than any runner in the race's history. Bill May has run in all but two of the first 39 races.

Slusser won her first BRR at age 19. Her last win was at age 43 in 2008.

“The older I get, the less likely I'll ever win again. It's not very realistic,” Slusser admitted. “Still, I show up to compete and do the best I can.

“I love the history and tradition of this race. That's why I keep coming back. The same people have been running it and taking care of it for years.

“They've kept up with the records and they've helped a lot of kids. It's always a competitive race and it's a joy to be a part of it,” Slusser added.

Visit www.butlerroadrace.org or call 724-284-4676 to register for the June 27 race.

10KMale — Sean Wade, 29:34, 1992Female — Nan Doak-Davis, 33:38, 19895-MileMale — Jake Walker, 24:32, 2008Female — Nicole Blaesser, 29:04, 20092KMale — Gary Garman, 6:11, 2000Female — Danica Snyder, 7:18, 2011