Dwindling Student Interest: A Potential Downfall

Just as student interest seemed to be the driving force behind the on-campus running boom, the lack of interest from students would also serve as its potential downfall. The introduction of the Elephant Brigade in the 1979 Trinitonian article was the most publicized recognition that the group had received. If this informal running group stayed together or grew over the next several years there was no record of it in any of the Trinity student publications. This could suggest that the interest levels for running had dwindled or perhaps other hobbies took time away from the informal organized group runs. Whatever the reasons were may remain unknown, but one thing that seems apparent is that the Elephant Brigade did not seem to make sufficient progress toward their ultimate goal of making an official cross country team a reality at Trinity.

A feature in the 1982 edition of The Mirage, Trinity’s yearbook, provides proof that this goal had not yet been achieved. According to the feature, the intramural cross country season was brief and only two enthusiastic runners had trained in preparation for the opportunity to represent Trinity at the NAIA Region Championships. These two runners had to pay their own way to the race because at that time it was still the case that “cross country is not recognized by Trinity and no team actually exists” (The Mirage, 1982).