You won't see the name of Demetrio Cabanillas among the winners at Thursday's Deseret Morning News Marathon. You won't see it among the finishers, either.
But he'll be in the vicinity. Count on it. What's a Pioneer Day without Demetrio? Remember how the Detroit Lions used to own Thanksgiving Day? Cabanillas owns the 24th of July. Aside from Brigham Young, there isn't Utahn more closely associated with that date. (It's also Karl Malone's birthday, but he never did shine in July; that was his time to complain about contracts.)
For Cabanillas, it was Christmas, New Year's Day and the best party he ever had, all rolled into one.
"Many people still see July 24th as 'marathon day,' " he says.
In the 1970s and '80s, Cabanillas dominated the race like no other, before or since. He won seven straight, including 1982 when he set a record that still stands (2:16.57). Creighton King interrupted the streak in 1983, but Cabanillas was back the next year, at age 30, to win again. Alvaro Palacios captured the 1985 and 1986 marathons, but in 1987 Cabanillas won No. 9. (In 1983 and 1986, Cabanillas didn't enter the race.)
Cabanillas always believed the race was his. He ran as many as 170 miles a week in preparation, while other runners were training with 120. The Deseret News Marathon wasn't for everyone. Most elite runners skipped the event, due to its lack of cash prizes. Others avoided it because of the heat and grueling terrain.
Cabanillas ate it up.
"Only those who were real marathoners did it," he says. "That's what distinguished it from all the easy marathons. To run the Deseret News, you didn't run 60 miles a week. You ran 90, 110, 120 miles a week.
"When it came to the Deseret News race, I very much knew I could win," he continues. "I was not trying to be a jerk, I just trained so hard, I knew I could win. People would expect me to say, 'Maybe I can finish in the top three,' but that would have been a lie."
He wasn't going for second or third.
The 48-year-old Cabanillas doesn't run competitive marathons anymore. He plans to compete in the 10K, Thursday, then "go cheer for the marathoners." Once a long hauler, always a long hauler. Also competing in the 10K will be his son by the same name, a former Utah State distance man, and his daughter, Carol, who has another year's eligibility at USU. She finished 12th in the women's 10K last year.
Thirty pounds heavier than in his dominating days, Cabanillas still trains between 50 and 80 miles a week. "I'm 48. For my age, I'm in very good shape," he says.
Despite strong ties to the race, Cabanillas has had a stormy relationship with the newspaper. At the time, the paper didn't give out prize money to the marathon winners. He wanted it otherwise. But lack of cash incentive never seemed to daunt Cabanillas, who just kept collecting the trips to Hawaii that were awarded as prizes.
"It was always a love-hate relationship with the Deseret News (race)," he says. "I always ended up running with the feeling they should give prize money, so that was the hate part of the relationship. But the love part was that I was able to help the Deseret News Marathon and put it on the map, and at the same time, it helped me to get on the map as a marathoner, so I look at it as a win-win situation."
When he heard early reports that the marathon would be discontinued after this year, sentiment got the best of him. He considered entering a final time, maybe even winning his age category. But when the News announced this would not be the final marathon, he decided to stick with the 10K.
That doesn't mean he won't ever do another marathon. In fact, he wants to run one with his daughter and son — if he can talk them into doing so. Since many marathoners don't hit their prime until they are in their late 20s and early 30s, he sees a day in the near future when they will run it as a threesome.
So keep your eyes out next year for a familiar face. There might be three Cabanillases peering out from the starting line darkness. With those kinds of numbers and a history of success, you have to figure someone named Cabanillas will win something.
Anything less would be a lie.
E-mail: rock@desnews.com