OLD MILL RUN: How to remember the new date,

By now, as astute Union Democrat readers may know, the 2021 Old Mill Run’s usual April date has this year moved to fall — Oct. 23.

Founded in 1978, the 10K race has been held on the third Saturday in April for more than 40 years. Sometimes it’s on Easter weekend and sometimes it’s not, but the nearly 10,000 who have run the Old Mill over the years are used to spring starts.

So how are runners going to remember this new date? Good question.

Oct. 23? Sounds like pretty much any other day on 2021’s 365-day calendar. It’s not like the Fourth of July, Christmas or even April Fools’ Day. It’s not the first day of autumn, or any other season. It’s not the first or last day in any month. The Old Mill has never before been run on this day before and likely will never be again.

Yes, the race is only eight days before Halloween. And we organizers are just fine with anyone who wants to run in costume. But others might grab you by the mask and say, “Hey buddy, you’re a week early!”

So, aside from jotting Oct. 23 down in your datebook or getting your Apple Watch to give you repeatedly shrill cyber reminders as race day approaches, what are you supposed to do to remember it?

Glad you asked! Here are a few not exactly fool-proof reminders:

• On Oct. 23, 2004 BC, the world was created. If you believe,

that is, in the Old Testament teachings of James Ussher (1581-1656). The Rev. Ussher was Primate of All Ireland for 31 of his 75 years and a noted Bible scholar. Sure, scientists now say his beginning-of-earth calculation is off by a few billion years, but who's counting? And if you're an Ussher believer nonetheless? Then Earth will celebrate its 6,025th anniversary on Old Mill Day.

• On Oct. 23, 1945, the Brooklyn Dodgers signed Negro League star Jackie Robinson to play for the team's Montreal farm club. When it comes to inspiring athletes in any sport, it's tough to forget the first black athlete to play in the Majors. But Jackie's Dodger number, 42 — now retired throughout baseball — may not help you remember Oct. 23.

There are, however, plenty of pro players in many sports who wear or wore 23: NBA stars Michael Jordan and Lebron James top a list that also includes new SF Giant Kris Bryant, Chicago Cub Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg, the Yankees' Don “Donnie Baseball” Mattingly, shifty Boston Red Sox pitcher Luis Tiant and — added by virtue of his nickname alone — fellow Red Sox righty Dennis “Oil Can” Boyd.

Boyd, although scheduled to take the mound for the seventh game of the 1986 World Series, was allegedly “too drunk” to pitch. Not wanting their deciding-game hurler to hurl on the mound, Sox Manager John McNamara brought-in last-minute sub Bruce Hurst, wearing No. 47. Hurst, a lefty, was stone sober. But it didn't matter: The New York Mets won 8-5.

Other 23-wearing athletes: soccer's David (“Bend-it-like”) Beckham, NFL running backs Frank Gore and Marshawn Lynch, Giants Will Clark and Bobby (Shot-heard-aroundthe-world) Thomson, as well as Golden State Warriors Mitch Richmond and Draymond Green.

• On Oct. 23, 1970, American driver Gary Gabelich set a land speed record (622.4 mph) at the wheel of The Blue Flame, a rocket-powered car fueled by natural gas. And, no, your finishing Old Mill kick will not get you even close to Gabelich's Bonneville Salt Flats mark — which has since been eclipsed and now stands at 763 mph. The Blue Flame, by the way, would have covered 10K in about 36 seconds. It will not be our pace car.

• On Oct. 23, 1973, soon-tobe- ex-president Richard Nixon agreed to surrender subpoenaed audio tapes of his Oval Office conversations amid the Watergate scandal. Moral of this story? Tell the truth about your age and everything else on your Old Mill Run entry form.

• On Oct. 23, 1991, the Paris Peace Accords were signed, ending the Vietnam War. Our country has been in a few wars since, but peace is expected in Columbia on this 30th anniversary of the treaty. What's more, NBA hoopster Metta World Peace (earlier Ron Artest) wore

23.

• On Oct. 23, a few famous folks were born. Among them actress Sarah Bernhardt (1844), football player, coach and trophy namesake John Heisman (1869), comedian and talk show host Johnny Carson (1925), Major League pitcher and U.S. Senator Jim Bunning (1931), British actress Diana Dors (1931), Puerto Rican-american golfer Chi-chi Rodriguez (1935), author Michael Crichton (1942), country singer Dwight Yoakam (1956) and comedian/singer Weird Al Yankovic (1959).

On that very weird note, we will give 2021 Old Mill Runners celebrating their own birthdays on race day (must show driver's license) one more reason to remember the date: You can run free and take home a 2021 OMR T-shirt on us!

So how much of a risk are we organizers taking with this one-time-only offer to those celebrating race-day birthdays? Not much: Oct. 23 is only the 200th most popular birthday in the U.S., according to the CDC statistics.

Based on government data, on average 11,046 folks are born across the U.S. on that day. In contrast, 12,301 are born on Sept. 9, the nation’s most popular B-day (in fact, nine of the 10 most popular American birthdays are in September). At the other end of the birth spectrum, an average of only 6,574 are born on Dec. 25, the nation's least popular birthday and only 7,792 on Jan. 1, its second least popular.

Deductions from the above: Obstetricians really don't want to work on Christmas or New Year’s days — hence very few C-sections or induced births are scheduled. But a whole lot of folks — judging from subtraction of nine months from those very popular September birth dates — really like playing around during the holidays.

All this trivia notwithstanding, the odds of any 2021 Old Miller being born on Oct. 23 are still roughly 1 in 365. The last time the race had a turnout of more than 365 was in 1990, when 530 ran. But even our largest turnout (629 in 1984), would by odds have yielded no more than one or two runners born on Oct. 23.

So unless this offer spurs a huge turnout of Twenty-thirders — which is a risk we’re very willing to take — we likely won't give out many freebies.

Entry fees paid by those born on any of the year's other 364 days (which include free Old Mill T-shirts) will benefit Sonora's annual free Christmas Eve Dinner and Dave and Teree Urquhart's own Wings Foundation, which assists families caring for ill or injured children.

(Now that you've waded through 1,000 words worth of tips to help you remember the Old Mill's new fall race date, here comes a caveat: Depending on the state of the COVID pandemic and its Delta Variant here in the Mother Lode, there is a chance the October Old Mill Run will not happen. Race organizers will likely make a decision on this by the end of August. In which case you'll have to remember a new date for the 41st OMR: April 17, 2022).