It helps to have lungs of steel

In 1908, nine men, below, ran from Sierra Madre up a steep and rocky trail along Little Santa Anita Canyon to the top of Mt. Wilson. “Spectators lined the eight-mile course ... cheering on the participants in this grueling, lung-bursting competition,” John Robinson writes in “Sierra Madre’s Old Mount Wilson Trail.” Joseph King of San Francisco, third from left, won the uphill trudge -- and a $150 gold medal -- in 1:25:30. Three years later, 9-year-old Edith Gray wowed crowds by running a respectable 1:51:50 -- even though her time didn’t count because females weren’t allowed to compete. The race became a symbol of the town’s prominence as a fresh-air refuge in the burgeoning Southland. “At the time, people from L.A. came up here to stay in cabins,” says Michelle Keith, community services director for Sierra Madre. The race faltered after 1912 and continued intermittently until 1965, when it returned in earnest. On Saturday at 7:30 a.m., 300 to 350 runners are expected to participate in the 39th Mt. Wilson Trail Race. The 8.6-mile out-and-back run, which has been modified over the years, begins in town and climbs 2,100 feet to Orchard Camp, an oak-shaded spot halfway up the mountain that was a resort in the teens and ‘20s. In the last three years, winners finished in less than an hour. Sign-ups for the race have closed, but you can revisit history by cheering at the start and finish line at the northwest corner of Sierra Madre Boulevard and Baldwin Avenue. Call (626) 355-5278 or go to www.mtwilsontrailrace.com.

-- Mary Forgione