MVC torch runners to make 20-hour trek

When the final runner brings the torch to the Missouri Valley College homecoming bonfire Friday night, Oct. 16, it will be the result of a well-oiled procedure that has been refined over the past half-century.

The event is coordinated again this year by MVC professor Ed Leslie, who is credited with reviving the torch run tradition in 1970 and who has been involved in organizing it many times since.

Leslie said he still takes a turn carrying the torch, but his primary duties are pace monitor and communications coordinator, attempting to get the torch to Marshall on time and keeping college officials informed about their progress along the way.

Once the torch arrives in Marshall, the teams gather in one place and escort it to campus together, he said.

The first torch run took place as part of homecoming activities in 1958, and later that season 58 students also carried a torch from Marshall to Orlando, Fla. -- 1,285 miles -- where the Vikings were playing in the Tangerine Bowl.

The torch run was also made in 1999, when MVC played in the Wheat Bowl in Ellinwood, Kan.

Since 1970, the torch has been carried from the hometown of the Vikings' homecoming opponent to the MVC campus.

By Leslie's count, this year will be the 43rd torch run completed during the 51-year history of the event.

This year, about 100 runners grouped in five teams from campus organizations will make the trek from Springfield to Marshall, arriving on campus about 8:30 p.m. after a 20-hour journey.

The final runner will use the torch to help light the homecoming bonfire. Leslie said Wednesday, Oct. 14, that he hadn't yet named the runner who would have the honor of carrying the torch last.

Contact Eric Crump at marshalleditor@socket.net