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LEWISTOWN — Sam Bray has spent enough years around cross country to know that a finish line rarely means somebody is finished.
At 75, Bray is stepping down as meet director of the Big Valley Invitational after roughly a decade in charge. The title will pass to Mark Colwell and others who have taken on the emails, entries, contacts and details that arrive long before the first runner reaches the starting line.
Bray, though, doesn’t plan to disappear. He still wants to get on his bike, ride down to the mile mark and call out times as runners pass. He wants to see who comes through first, who comes through last and what the race looks like from a spot he has occupied year after year.
"I'll be around it for as long as I can be around it," Bray said.
Bray figures he became director around 2015, though he admits he can’t pin down the exact year. Before that, he worked alongside Bill Solava and others, handling the course and whatever else needed to be handled. When the job eventually became his, it came with the sort of duties that rarely make a program or a photograph.
There were coaches to contact, checks to collect, workers to line up, medical coverage to arrange, and grass to cut. Bray met with the maintenance crew. He painted course lines, marked the miles, sprayed exposed roots so runners wouldn’t trip, and helped remove tree limbs.
"It’s doing all the stuff that nobody else wants to do," he said.
That may be the most accurate job description of a meet director. The Big Valley Invitational has survived for more than half a century because many people have been willing to do those jobs.
Bray credits the Rotary Club, which has supported the meet since its early days and pays for the medals. Volunteers park cars, hand out awards, work the course, and help at the finish. Maintenance crews prepare the grounds. Medical workers stand ready when hundreds of young runners push themselves over 3.1 miles.
Bray has spent years making sure those pieces fit. He also helped rebuild the field when the meet had slipped to about 24 or 25 teams. This year, 34 teams competed. The junior high race, added roughly five years ago after coaches asked for more opportunities for younger runners, has grown from perhaps 50 or 60 competitors to close to 200.
The sport changed around him, too. Once, runners finished in chutes and waited while places were sorted. Popsicle sticks helped keep order. Later came reusable timing chips tied to shoes, which meant somebody had to chase down the missing ones. Now the chip is built into the race number.
The machinery improved. The purpose stayed much the same.
Bray remembers the old all-comers race, when almost anybody could show up and run the course. He ran it himself after coming to the area in the 1970s. Years later, his daughter, Alicia, competed at Big Valley.
This year, his grandson finished sixth in the junior high race and earned a medal.
Three generations.
"So that was really exciting for me," Bray said.
For Bray, that may say more about the invitational than any team count or course record. He’s watched outstanding runners come through the meet, including state champions. He believes Big Valley brings a level of talent to Mifflin County that few local sporting events can match.
This year, he stood near the finish and watched State College runner Luke Bradbury attack the final 200 meters on his way to a course-record 15:01. Bray has seen enough races to know the difference between finishing and racing to the finish.
"He was sprinting," Bray said. "When he went by, I’ve never seen a kid as fast as that." Those are the moments a meet director gets to keep after the paperwork is gone.
Bray’s decision to step aside didn’t come from frustration with the event. At 75, he believes organizations survive only when younger people get a chance to take responsibility.
"You need to get younger people involved," Bray said.
Colwell had already been helping. A former Big Valley champion and three-time PIAA medalist, twice in track and once in cross country, he handled emails and communication with coaches this year and worked with his son on the meet website. Bray stayed on as the local contact, collecting checks and taking care of what he calls the "nuts and bolts." Now he’s passing those along, too.
Bray likes what Colwell brings to the job. He calls him down to earth, a good communicator and someone willing to ask questions and improve things. More importantly, Bray knows the transfer is happening while he is still around to answer those questions.
Running has occupied too much of Bray’s life for him to pretend this handoff is merely administrative. He still runs some, though not as much as he once did. He bikes. He exercises. He remembers a period when he could run with almost anyone around.
The sport gave him health, accomplishment and, in his words, self-esteem. Over time, it gave him an identity.
"People look at me and say, 'Oh, Sam Bray, you’re a runner,'" he said. "And it’s sort of defined my life."
Bray hopes the Big Valley Invitational keeps drawing 30 to 35 teams, keeps attracting strong runners, and keeps giving young athletes a race worth remembering. He hopes Solava would be pleased with what the meet became.
And when next year’s runners come over the course, Bray expects to be somewhere nearby. Maybe he won’t be the director anymore. Maybe he won’t have the checks, or the emails, or the list of people to call.
But if his legs allow it, he’ll have his bike and he’ll ride to the mile mark.
And when the runners come through, Sam Bray will still be there to tell them the time.