A Brief History of the Emmaus 4 Mile Classic

The Emmaus 4 Mile Classic turned 48 years old this year (2025) and we thought we’d share some details and photos of some of our earlier races.

The Emmaus 10K was started in 1977, shortly after the Emmaus Road Runners were formed. 

Charlie Norelli, an Emmaus High School graduate and Princeton University student was the winner of the first race. He later brought his college roommate from Princeton, Craig Masback, an international class runner to run the race in its second and third years. Naturally, he won easily. 

A 5K was added and for a number of years the runners had a choice of doing either. The popularity of the 10K waned and it was decided to go with one race, the 4-miler.

A Club member, Ed Thompson an Emmaus grad and Club member died suddenly from a brain tumor and it was subsequently decided to establish the Ed Thompson Memorial Scholarship in his honor. Years later Nicole Reinhart, a standout athlete at Emmaus, died in a professional bike race and an additional scholarship was established in her name.

The original course for the 10K took runners out on Cedar Crest Blvd. but the course was changed in its second year when some runners vocalized concerns about having to run up Cedar Crest for a short distance before finishing, approaching the high school from the opposite direction on Harrison Street.