Steve Lobdell: The Man Behind Fairfield’s Half Marathon

Fairfield, CT – If you live in the Fairfield area, you’re quite familiar with the annual Stratton Faxon Fairfield Road Race – a combination 5K and Half Marathon set to run Saturday and Sunday, June 23 and 24 respectively, from Jennings Beach. However, you may not be familiar with its Founder and Director Steve Lobdell.

The 65-year-old lifelong Fairfield resident sat down for an exclusive interview with Fairfield HamletHub recently to talk about how the race came about and some of the staggering logistics involved with producing what was just named one of the Top 10 Destination Races in the U.S. by Active.com.

Lobdell came up through Fairfield schools – Pequot School, Oldfield School (now the Senior Center, on Mona Terrace), Mill Hill Elementary and the old Roger Ludlowe High School. Ironically, he wasn’t a runner, pursuing baseball instead. After attending Housatonic Community College, he joined the Fairfield Fire Department, in 1969, working his way up to Lieutenant, then Captain in 2000, serving in three capacities: Training Officer, Platoon Captain and Town Fire Marshall. He retired in 2003, though he continued to do regional origin and cause fire investigations, for insurance purposes.

In 1980, as he rose in the fire department ranks, Lobdell started running, initially just for exercise. He got up to running 30 miles a week and competed in local races, though he admitted, “I was just ok, and didn’t win anything. At best, I could run the Thanksgiving race in 31 minutes flat.”

The Fairfield Fire Chief at the time, David Russell, knew Lobdell had been running and asked if he wanted to put on a race to raise funds for the American Cancer Society. “Not knowing any better, I said ‘yes’, met up with Beth Harris, president of the Pequot Road Runners, and we put on the race, called the Fairfield Half Marathon, in June 1981,” said Lobdell.

There were 165 participants in the Half and 165 in an associated five-miler. “It was very small, very local, with data entry by hand,” said Lobdell. “The lead pack in the five-miler went the wrong way, but the Half went well. We made the latter our focus for many years going forward, with the start and finish always at Jennings Beach.”

In terms of race management, Lobdell had help from a tight group of Fairfield firefighters, many of whom are still helping today. “It’s always been the firefighters that have hosted all 32 years,” he said.

With regard to milestones, in 1986, the Race reached 1,000 entrants, which included Olympian Nancy Ditz. In 1989, Race managers hosted the U.S. Women’s Half Marathon Championship and earned the rating by Runners World of being one of the top U.S. races. In 1992, five Olympians participated, including two members of the U.S. Olympic Marathon team. The 5K was re-introduced in 1995 and the combined race field topped 3,000. The following year, seven Olympians training for the Atlanta games participated. In 2001, John Yuda of Tanzania set the current Half Marathon course record of 62:39. Six years later, New Haven-based law firm Stratton Faxon became title sponsors.

Last year, the event was split into two days, as the combined field had grown close to 6,000. That year, over $400,000 was raised for numerous charities. Now, the 5K is run almost entirely by the Fairfield Beach Residents Association, which receives a donation to help with upkeep and maintenance of Fairfield’s coastline and related programs.

The event has gone beyond the Race itself, becoming a community-wide celebration, with entertainment that includes a 12-piece band, Gaelic American Club Pipe & Drum Band, DJs, cheer groups, race route activities and a beach party at the finish. Fifteen hundred people will run the 5K, while 4,500 will run the Half Marathon (as of June 12, 500 openings remained for the Half).

“Everyone involved in the race has a positive experience, from runners and roadside supporters to local business and area charities,” said Lobdell. “We look to make the race the best it can be every year.”

For more information and to register: www.FairfieldHalf.org

STAGGERING RACE STATS:

-       Close to 600 volunteers, including members of the Fairfield Fire Dept., CERT, Lodge 29 of the Fairfield County Sheriffs and the Girl Scouts.

-       6,000 Whole Foods cookies

-       1,500 Whole Foods bagels

-       5,000 Whole Foods energy bars

-       800 Whole Foods apples

-       800 Whole Foods bananas

-       5,000 Whole Foods packages of chips

-       4,500 Roebeks drinks

-       3,000 yogurts

-       Two bins of watermelons

-       300 pizzas

-       2,000 hot dogs

-       637 five-gallon bottles of water

-       82,000 cups

-       30,000 back-up cups

-       6,000 technical running shirts

-       600 cotton shirts for volunteers