While most current members have only known the club as the Rocky Mountain Road Runners, the name of the club has had a convoluted history since the founding of the parent club, the Denver Track Club, in 1959. Ric Robinette has prepared a lengthy history of the club, available here, and a “History of the Formation of the Rocky Mountain Road Runners,” found here. But here’s a quick and dirty history of the evolution of the “Rocky Mountain Road Runners” name.
- In the summer of 1959, Joe Arrazola formally organized the Denver Track Club for a series of summer track meets, and the club received AAU affiliation.
- Beginning around 1962 or 1963, as the result of two competing sanctioning bodies, the club operated under two names — the Denver Track Club, sanctioned by the AAU, for running and racewalking track events, and the Rocky Mountain Road Racing Club, sanctioned by the Road Runners Club of America, for road racing events.
- During the mid-1960s, the name of the RRCA affiliated club was revised twice, first to the Rocky Mountain Road Runners Club, and finally to simply the Rocky Mountain Road Runners. The exact year of this final change has not been identified, but that name was used on 1968 documents.
- Both names — the Denver Track Club and the Rocky Mountain Road Runners — coexisted until 1971, when split among the membership resulted in a reorganization of the club. A new constitution was ratified by the membership, naming the club “Rocky Mt. Road Runners.”