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Howdy Wilcox was director of the Indiana University Foundation in 1950 when a sight caught his eye while he was walking through campus. A group of students was biking around a dormitory--with yet another group of students cheering madly from the dorm windows. What developed was an idea for a bike race patterned after the Indianapolis 500, a race Wilcox' father had won in 1919.
The next year, the dream became a reality, and the first Little 500 in Bloomington brought in enough money to award 60 $100 scholarships to IUB students. Over the course of the years, the IU Student Foundation event has raised some $700,000 in scholarship funds, including the $35,000 in scholarship awards made from last year's race.
The 49th running of the Men's Little 500 is scheduled for 2 p.m. at Bill Armstrong Stadium Saturday, April 24. The Women's Little 500 is Friday, April 23, at 4 p.m. and the Mini 500 Trike Race is Thursday, April 22, at 7:30 p.m.
A viewing of the classic film, Breaking Away, filmed 20 years ago in Bloomington, is one of the many spring festivities planned for "the World's Greatest College Weekend."
To date, more than 6,500 men and 1,000 women (the women's race was inaugurated in 1988) have ridden in the event.
For information and an events calendar, go to this IU Student Foundation Web site:
http://iusf.bloomington.com/little5/99schedule.html
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