Chase Cheney, last year's winner of the monster Sandbagger trophy, "The Thing," is in California in the midst of a two-yer mission for his church; therefore, he was unable to be here to "defend?" his title. However, his dad, Clayton Cheney, hauled The Thing to the 2013 fray with the admonishment, no doubt, from Mrs. Cheney to "don't you dare bring that thing back home," (he didn't) despite Chase's careful briefing to his Dad as to how you go about winning the thing.

The Thing has endured, now for 40 years as a traveling trophy gracing the living room of each year's best sandbagger until the next year. Each year the 3-foot tall trophy is returned with something of value (?) added to it. Chase added a small brick souvenir from Nauvoo, IL.

The race has not been 10,000 meters all those 43 years. It has been a 5-miler to a 30,000 meter, at times (see the 25 years ago column page 2), but mostly it has been 10,000 meters. Further, the race was not known as the Great Sandbagger until the fourth running in 1973 at which time The Thing was first presented, to Rob Spier. Joe Duncan had bought The Thing from a sporting goods store in Sedalia for $15, that store wanting to get rid of it as badly as have all the winners ever since, with some exceptions, viz., those who have treated it with tender, loving care--but somehow they have never strived to win it back, except for Spier who won it twice in a row, but strove mightily never to win it again when it was announced that whoever would first win it three times would keep it forever.

The Thing originally had two mini-bags, c.2 oz, which are now missing. It is said they were drafted into service as part of a sandbag barrier during the Great Flood of '93.

Many times the winner of the thing is a newcomer to the race. So it was this year when Angela Wagner, newly arrived in Columbia two weeks ago, spotted the event on Facebook and decided to try it out, much to her later chagrin when, after finishing first, she was told what she had done. Wagner, originally from St. Louis, a graduate of BYU and late of three years in England, had run track a couple of years in high school, but didn't resume running until six months ago. We think CTC and The Thing has her hooked. She is here to begin her first year of Law School.
--Joe Duncan, race director