The founder of the Little 500, Howard S. “Howdy” Wilcox, who was the IU Student Foundation executive director at the time, was wandering around campus when he heard the roars of crowds from a few yards across campus while a couple of students were holding a bicycle race.
After he discovered these students, Wilcox had an idea.
At that time, he was in charge of overseeing fundraising ideas for the foundation. Inspired by the students racing, and his father’s win at the Indianapolis 500, he came up with the idea to hold a bike race.
Th is wasn’t just any normal race. Students would race bicycles to the rules and regulations of the Indianapolis 500. The fi rst race would be held in 1951 and called the “Little 500.”
Wilcox, who attended IU as an undergrad in the 1930s, later came to be known as the Father of the Little 500. With more than 60 teams, the race is just as popular now as it was in 1951.
Little 500 started off with more than 60 teams — adding 38 women’s teams in 1988 — and although we don’t have quite as many today the spectator numbers have exploded from 500 to about 6,000 since 1951, said Jordan Bailey, Little 500 race director.
Th e most important idea about the Little 500 was the money it made for the student foundation, John Schwarb, author of “Th e Little 500: The Story of the World’s Greatest College Weekend” said.
“This sounds hard to believe now, but when Wilcox first took over as IU Foundation executive director, it wasn’t pulling in that much money,” Schwarb said in an email. “He wasn’t sure alumni understood what the Foundation was all about. Maybe he couldn’t change his current alumni base, but he could mold the current students so they could become more active later as adults.”
Throughout the years, the race has evolved into the weekend that every alumnus and IU student waits for with the help of important faculty members.
“I credit Bill Armstrong for fine-tuning the Little 500 into the star-studded, full weekend that it later became, but the origination was all Howdy Wilcox’s,” Schwarb said.
The Little 500 isn’t something that is planned overnight. Th e Student Foundation puts a large time commitment into planning Little 500. Th e riders don’t take it lightly, either. They practice riding from the fall all the way up until the ride in April.
“When I was a student, I was amazed at the time riders and IUSF people put into the event. It’s not just a party you throw together a month ahead of time,” Schwarb said.
It’s not just a bike race, but something that allows students and alumni to really come together and connect, Bailey said.
“It’s unique because it’s an event where all the students come together for one awesome activity, and it’s an awesome connection from students to alumni,” Bailey said.
