To most of us outside of the elite runner’s world, the continued success of Chico State distance runner Scott Bauhs, who is redshirting this year with the Wildcats, continues to amaze us. Only Bauhs who trains as much as 90 miles a week, might see it differently. He’s put in the time and the miles and is now reaping the benefits.

Bauhs’ impressive finish at the San Jose Half Marathon (first American finisher, sixth overall) on Oct. 14 got the national running community talking in various running-related chatrooms. Chico State Head Coach Gary Towne recently reported that Bauhs’ time of 1:03.04 stands as a U.S. age group record for 21-year-olds and is, in fact, the fastest half marathon time for an American 21 or under.

With the successes come the rewards, Bauhs was just notified by USA Track & Field that he has been selected to run for the United State in the six-person Ekiden Relays in Chiba, Japan on November 23. 

The Chiba Ekiden relay is an extremely prestigious event internationally.   Each country fields a team of six standout runners, which broken into 5k and 10k legs will cover the distance of a full marathon.  Upon completion of their leg, the runner passes the traditional Japanese sash/Tasuki onto the next runner. Bauhs has been selected to run a 10k leg of the relay.  

Just how good these runner’s are can been seen in last year’s U.S. team which consisted of Ryan Hall, U.S. record holder for the marathon, and Ian Dobson, who carries sub-13:20 5k credentials.  Teams from Japan, Ethiopia, Kenya and other countries often have Olympians running legs.  This year’s relay is different than the past, as a coed format will be run – three men and three women per team.