Dornon Games a rich Fallbrook tradition

If former Baltimore Oriole All-Star team player Brady Anderson; Galen Tomlinson, known as “Turbo” on “American Gladiators;” and Melina Glusac, the 2001 US Half Marathon Champion were to stand on the sidelines at the 37th Annual Don Dornon Games on May 31, it is likely their faces would be wreathed in smiles.

It wasn’t too long ago that they competed in the same track and field event with other Fallbrook and Bonsall fourth, fifth and sixth grade students.

The games have a poignant history. In the early 1970s, Don Dornon taught at Fallbrook Street schools. At the time, Fallbrook sent three elementary school track and field teams to a Junior Olympics event held each spring at Lake Elsinore.

Patrick Rusnell, then a teacher at La Paloma School and now on the elementary district school board, recalls Dornon expressed frustration over the event, noting the pageantry overwhelmed the competition.

As a result, Dornon decided to organize the Fallbrook Invitational Track Meet with a focus on the importance of track and field sports, and for three years teams from Temecula, Valley Center and San Marcos came to Fallbrook to compete with students from the Fallbrook and Bonsall elementary school districts.

With Dornon at the helm, the invitational was successful, Rusnell recalls.

“He organized it, ran it, then one month to the day after the 1976 event, Don Dornon was killed in a head-on automobile collision,” Rusnell says. “I heard the sirens, but only later did I learn what happened.”

The next day, Rusnell, along with Mike and Laura Choate, formed the Don Dornon Games in honor of their colleague and friend whose only objective was to give kids a taste of track and field competition.

The Choates, Rusnell and hundreds of other volunteers continue to work each year to make sure Dornon’s legacy continues.

To select teams to compete, schools may hold field days, choose competitors from PE classes or hold tryouts. Practices are held after school.

For the first time, Rusnell says, the track events will be measured in meters instead of yards, similar to a CIF meet. Meters are slightly shorter than yards.

There are rules, too. Fourth, fifth and sixth grade contestants may only enter one individual track event. Fourth and fifth grade contestants may also enter the 402-meter and 457-meter shuttle relays. Sixth grade contestants may also enter the 402- or 804-meter and the 457-meter shuttle relays.

Only track contestants may try out for individual field events, and finally, tug-of-war contestants may not try out for individual field events.

To keep competition equitable, fourth grade competitors may not be older than 11 years, six months; fifth grade competitors, no older than 12 years, six months; and sixth grade competitors, no older than 13 years, six months.

The Don Dornon Games are for every kid, Rusnell says. A boy or girl who is strong may not be fast, so the Softball Throw or Long Jump is perfect. On the other hand, a slender, fast runner may be overpowered by the Tug of War.

This is the first year competition will take place on the recently installed state-of-the-art Marty Hauck track at Fallbrook High School and could result in record-breaking competition.

Looking forward to the event with enthusiasm as always, Rusnell offers a cautionary warning: “Kids in the mile must train. Don’t enter someone who isn’t prepared or who can’t train.”

A mile, or 1,609 meters, requires eight laps of the track and strains the level of fitness for anyone trying to run it fast.

For more information about the Don Dornon Games, contact the Fallbrook Union Elementary School District at (760) 723-7000.