Last Saturday, the fourth annual Bobby Birdsong Memorial Mosaic Run was held in Levelland, with runners making their way around the city square and other scenic parts of town, and, of course, past numerous mosaics.
With 281 finishers of the 400 registered, race director Lydia Turner considers the event “extremely” successful. “There are no complaints from the directors or the workers, and, as far as I know, no complaints from the people.”
Runners were between the ages of four and 82 years old, with a majority of participants from out of town.
Results for the kids’ 1mile run included Presley Davis of Levelland, age 7, as the overall 1st-place female finisher with a time of 10 minutes and 7 seconds, and Brooks Wheeler of Lubbock, age 9, as the overall 1st-place male finisher with a time of 8 minutes and 12 seconds.
For the 2-mile, results included Hope Pacheco of Lubbock, age 34, as the overall 1st-place female finisher with a time of 14 minutes and 21 seconds, and Chase Green of Lubbock, age 28, as the overall 1stplace male finisher with a time of 10 minutes and 48 seconds.
Lastly, results for the 10k included Crysty Johnston of Lubbock, age 48, as the overall 1st-place female finisher with a time of 49 minutes and 7 seconds, and David Mora III of Lubbock, age 21, as the overall 1st-place male finisher with a time of 33 minutes and 32 seconds.
Additionally, a number of course records were broken during the morning.
Davis Mora III’s 10K time broke his age group’s record by over 12 minutes, while Chase Green’s time broke the overall 2-mile course record by 1 minute and 21 seconds.
Crysty Johnston broke her own 10K age group record by 7 seconds, while Sofia Peralta of Sundown, age 17, broke her age group’s 10K average record by 2 minutes, setting the new record at 52 minutes and 26 seconds.
Notably, the current record holder of the Men’s 10K course, with a time of 32 minutes and 52 seconds, is Brandon Birdsong of Alamosa, Colorado, a relation of the man for whom the event is named, Bobby Birdsong. Brandon set the Levelland course record in 2024.
The course, as mentioned in a prior article, was designed by race directors Lydia Turner and Reeda York to expose runners to Levelland’s many mosaics. Much of the 10K route is around the square and South Plains College, where many of Levelland’s oldest and largest mosaics are located.
Turner explained that “little adjustments to the route had been made over the years since the race had been brought back to Levelland to make sure it went around as many mosaics as possible” but that “now that the 10K is a certified course, we can’t adjust it at all.”
The USATF certification is a new development, and one which Turner is very proud of.
“We are a certified longdistance course by the United States of America Track and Field association. It’s a big deal and costs a lot of money,” she says. “A guy rode the course four times on his bike last Sunday to check the course and certify it. Everything has to be exact down to 0.1% longer than a 6.2k distance.”
The Levelland course is also one of only two West Texas Running Club (WTRC) races that are hosted in conjunction with the city where they take place. This is because the money generated through sponsorships of the race goes to Levelland Main Street, not the WTRC.
“Entry money for the race goes to the general WTRC fund, but if we have a sponsor pay $500 to have their name on a water stop, or they donate $200 to be on our T-shirts, or $250 to be a flag sponsor, that money goes to the main street program,” explains Turner.
Turner also commented on the wonderful support they received from the city while hosting the race.
“We had 25 local volunteers; the Levelland Police Department goes above and beyond to keep us safe. TxDOT also put up a huge electric highway sign, and we were given permission by the state to shut down an entire lane from 6:15 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.,” she says.
“We had people up at 5:30 to put up cones. The city fire department truck was out at the country club to make sure it was apparent that a lane was closed, and they stayed there until the last runner came through.”
Ultimately, Turner feels that the future for the race is “pretty bright.” “It’s a beautiful site, and it's an interesting course. We have great community resources and cooperation, and an increase of 40 runners each year since we’ve started. There is no reason not to continue.”
WTRC’s next event is the Firecracker Run in Brownfield, on July 4. For more information on that race or results for the Bobby Birdsong Memorial Mosaic Run, go to wtrunning.com.