Cardinal Track Club’s Four on the 4th Road Race a Rite of Summer

RECREATION & LEISURE

By Randy B. Young
Correspondent

The problem with runners is that they always seem to be in a hurry, scurrying this way and that, pausing only at street crossings where they impatiently jog in place until the light changes. There’s always somewhere to get to…quickly.

It’s not surprising that participants in Cardinal Track Club’s (CTC’s) three annual Tour de Carrboro events tend to show up like magic by the hundreds—even thousands—and then quickly disappear into the ether, one step ahead of the jailer.

Of course, in the wake of Cardinal’s Thanksgiving Gallop and Gorge 5-miler, runners bask in the yearly family reunion and then scurry off for turkey and pumpkin pie. In the wake of this year’s Carrboro 10K and 5K on Saturday, October 4th, many will run that morning and depart quickly for an idyllic autumn afternoon in Kenan Stadium, where the UNC Tar Heels will play Clemson that afternoon.

Staged early last Friday morning, Cardinal’s Four on the 4th was no exception, as nearly 800 runners braved the humidity, basked in the warmth of running friends, and then disappeared for pools, barbecues, and fireworks, leaving the Carrboro neighborhoods to the cyclists and cicadas. Clearly, runners have to make the most of their time together, even in the depths of summer.

It’s “element-ary,” Watson

CTC President Tina Clossick noted that the club’s emphasis for their July 4 four-mile race was comfort and safety in the summer heat.

“Honestly, it’s July 4th, and it’s very warm and so we’re doing our best to alleviate issues by having a lot of shade tents for the runners to stand under,” Clossick said. “We provided ice towels this year for runners as they finish. That’s thanks to Fleet Feet Sports, and it’s been amazing.”

“Basically, there’s two full safety measures,” Clossick added. “Runners are finishing, they’re heated, and ice towels helps them immediately cool down, but we also have tubs full of ice. If we have an issue with somebody not feeling well, we immediately have a tub where we can cool them down quickly.”

Clossick said race organizers added more manned water stops along the four-mile course through Carrboro as well.

“In the past, we’ve kind of had one unmanned water stop,” Clossick said, but this year, we have two manned water stops, thanks Optimist Club (of Chapel Hill), who is one of our designated race partners. That makes sure that everyone has water as you get a mile and-a-half and also at the three-mile mark.”

A service climatologist and meteorologist at UNC and member of the CTC Board of Directors William Schmitz, said the initial race of twenty-first 2025 Tour de Carrboro on July 4 was actually fortunate to see the dew point drop around 13 degrees just before race time.

“So that was the lowest dew point at race time since 2018,” said Schmitz. “The dew point: that’s how your skin behaves in the race.”

By the numbers…

The Cardinal Track Club (www.cardinaltrack.com) is a Carrboro / Chapel Hill-based organization dedicated to the enjoyment and promotion of running. Founded in the late 1990’s by Dick Forbis and Bobby Biles, Cardinal offers a wide range of activities designed to cater to various fitness levels, including group road or trail runs in a supportive, motivating environment.

For two decades, Cardinal has worked with the Community Partners to put on the annual Tour de Carrboro running race series, which is comprised of the Four on the Fourth (four-mile run), the Carrboro 10K (6.2-mile)typically run on the first Saturday in October, and the Gallop and Gorge 8K (5-mile) on Thanksgiving morning, each beginning and ending in Carrboro.

Cardinal board member Wayne Eckert was pleased with this year’s last-minute registrations and total numbers.

“We want to do it pretty much the same as we had,” Eckert said. “I don’t think we had this many last year—we were just 717 total in 2024. This is an even bigger event than the Carrboro 10K in October.”

“For registrations, we had 771 sign up for this race in total,” Clossick said, “and we had 730 actual participants.”

Friday’s turnout was a good sign that Cardinal can stay engaged with its community partners at least at the levels seen last year.

Now in its 21st year, the Tour de Carrboro race series, supports local runners and the community at large, having provided nearly $700,000 dollars over the Tour’s twenty years to community non-profit establishments. In January 2025, Cardinal donated $50,000 to its Community Partners based on revenue from 2024 races.

“This money goes directly back to organizations that give back to the Carrboro/Chapel Hill area themselves,” Tina Clossick said in January. “We look for Community Partners who can support efforts around healthy living, healthy lifestyles, and who are doing good work in the community.”

CTC’s Partners provide volunteers who work alongside the Carrboro Police Department, Public Works, and the race sponsors. 2025 Community Partners include Meals on Wheels, TABLE, the Orange Rape Crisis Center, UNC’s Get Real and Heel, the Optimist Club of Chapel Hill, UNC Therapy, the Carrboro Family Garden, and Boy Scout Troop 845.

Stephen Paddock scorched the four-mile course in 20:30 to finish first overall in the “Four on the 4th” four-mile road race. Photo by Randy B. Young.

In a hurry

While runners may always seem to be rushing somewhere, some runners were in a particular hurry on July 4.

Among females overall, it was Rebecca McGavin first across the line in 23:39, followed by Hana Baskin (24:36) and Emma Astrike-Davis (24:47). Among males, the first overall winner was Stephen Paddock (20:30) in first place, followed by Nate LeTavec (21:15) and Jacob Rutz (21:23).

Among the masters (40+) runners, it was Emily Boles earning gold among females in 25:56, followed by Heather Lindenman (26:05) and Leigh Campbell (26:07). Alex Pearson was atop the podium in the masters males division, finishing in 22:14. Rounding out the top three masters males, Allen Baddour finished second in 23:15, followed by Tommy Boles in third (23:32). 

In the Athena division, Hayden Plyler was first among women (38:37); Patrick Meade was first male across the line among Clydesdales (33:22).

Rebecca McGavin was first across the finish line among female runners in just 23:39 at the “Four on the 4th” four-mile road race. Photo by Randy B. Young.

Fall-ing for Cardinal

Clossick noted earlier this year that CTC will actually be adding a 5K (3.1-mile) race on the same October 4 morning as the Carrboro 10K.

“We’ve come up with a map already that uses all but a tiny street from the 10K course,” she noted. “The goal is to have volunteers in place for both races.”

“We have so many families that run the Gallop and Gorge together—it’s like a Thanksgiving family reunion—but if we can make the Carrboro 10K feel more like a family event where the community is coming together to run together, that would be exceptional.”

Runners make their way to the final stretch of the “Four on the 4th” four-mile road race. The race marked the twenty-fifth annual staging of the Independence Day rite and the initial installment of Cardinal Track Club’s twenty-first “Tour de Carrboro” series. Photo by Randy B. Young.

A final tally

Organizers were happy with both the turnout and the competition.

“I think everyone had a great race,” Clossick said. “I got a lot of compliments from runners, and I’m very impressed that people could put down those kinds of fast times in this heat. I do think it was a little cooler this year than last year, and I think that really helped people felt better coming through the finish line.”

“We can’t do anything about the weather,” Clossick added, “but we can definitely do everything we can do to help people deal with the elements. We had the tents which people did use, we didn’t run out of ice towels, and I think everyone got a popsicle.” 

“So, a super race, ice towels, and popsicles,” Clossick said. “There you go: that’s a good day.”

Festivities at the July 4 “Four on the 4th road race ended with the shorter “firecracker” races for budding younger athletes. Photo by Randy B. Young.

A Dartmouth College graduate, Randy B. Young first worked as an award-winning advertising copywriter in New Hampshire, then in communications at UNC for over 30 years. He maintained an award-winning newspaper feature covering Recreation and Exercise in the Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Orange County. Retired and living in Chapel Hill, Randy continues to write for regional publications both locally and in New England, and his book, And the Stars Flew With Us, is available through Amazon and at independent bookstores. He coaches track at Chapel Hill High and has a photography business, Pierless (sic) Photography. This reporter can be reached at: Information@TheLocal Reporter.press