Joe Tinius, co-director of the 39th annual Med Center Health 10K Classic, explains some of the changes in this year’s race during Friday’s news conference.

A competitive runner when Bowling Green’s Med Center Health 10K Classic started in 1980 as the Wendy’s 10K, Joe Tinius now takes a runner’s perspective as co-director of the annual race.

That’s a big reason why the 39th version of the event Oct. 13 will have a slightly different look that Tinius and others hope will better accommodate the hundreds of runners and walkers participating in the events that start and end on Western Kentucky University’s campus.

Tinius and his co-director, Tommy Loving, announced what they called some “tweaks” to the event during a news conference Friday in The Medical Center at Bowling Green’s auditorium.

The biggest change is in the 10-kilometer (6.2-mile) race’s start time. Tinius said the day’s headline event will be moved from 8 a.m. to 8:15 a.m. to avoid conflicts with the 5-kilometer run that starts at 7:30.

“We’re seeing more participants walking the 5K, so we needed a little bit more time for all of them to get in before starting the 10K,” Tinius said. “We’re trying to not have as much overlap between the first finishers of the 10K and the final finishers of the 5K.”

Another change is in the course for the 3K fun walk, which is scheduled to start at 7:45 a.m. Walkers will travel over parts of the 10K course downtown instead of through Cedar Ridge, Creason Drive and other streets behind McNeill Elementary School.

“We’ve tried to consolidate the race course and make it a little easier on traffic issues,” Loving said. “We’re taking one neighborhood totally out of it. I think it will be a big improvement.”

Loving said he expects some downtown streets to be closed from 7:30 to 9:30 that morning to accommodate the fun walk, the 5K and 10K runs and a 10K wheelchair race that will start at 8:10 a.m.

Med Center Health has been the title sponsor of the 10K for at least 20 years, and its vice president of development and community outreach said the event is a perfect fit for the health care provider.

“Med Center Health is very interested in keeping people healthy,” Doris Thomas said. “One of the things we want to do is promote healthy lifestyles. We know that physical activity is a key, so we think it’s very important to do this.”

Thomas said the 10K event will include two children’s races again this year, one at 9:30 a.m. for children in grades 4-6 and another at 9:45 a.m. for those in kindergarten through third grade.

A 10 a.m. awards ceremony will again include a cash prize drawing. Thomas said five names from those completing any of the adult races will be drawn, with each winning $1,000.

Tinius expects the 10K to attract some elite runners again this year because of prize money that is being awarded to the top five finishers in the men’s and women’s divisions. He said the two overall winners will receive $500 each. The top four finishers in the wheelchair, Masters (40-to-49), Grand Masters (50-to-59) and Senior Grand Masters (60-and-over) divisions will also earn cash prizes. The first male and female runners from Warren County in the 10K will earn $500 prizes.

Med Center Health 10K activities will begin Oct. 12 with a health and fitness expo from 4 to 8 p.m. at Sloan Convention Center. A pre-race pasta party sponsored by the Daily News is scheduled for Oct. 12 at the Holiday Inn University Plaza.

– For more information about the 10K Classic or to register for one of the races, visit the event’s website at www.themedicalcenter10k classic.com or call 270-796-2141.