Metro to Mountain Journal

Saturday (2/23), was the first (but hopefully annual) Cummins Falls State Park Marathon. The race was a fund raiser for the Park with the proceeds being directed toward the purchasing of new land.

The Marathon Day celebration was much bigger than just a 26.2 mile run. There was also a half-marathon, a 10k, a 5k, and a multi-marathon for the kids. Unofficial numbers were 192 registered runners and about 70 kids who ran the first mile of their multi-run. There was also food, music, a hike, and nature programs. Many folks in attendance did not come to race but instead came just to support the Park.

We (Amy, Jake - the big dog, and I) arrived after the start of the marathon. The race started at 8 and we just didn't get moving quite fast enough. We were able to cheer the 10k and 5k runners as they started down the gravel road and returned. There were runners of varying sizes and speeds, but all seemed to enjoy the run.

The multi-marathon run is a fitness program operated in conjunction with the State's Junior Ranger Program. At the kick-off, the participants ran one mile. Oh, but it was not just the kids that were running, many parents ran with them! After the race, the runners 'swag' bags included a chart for logging their running mileage. The goal of the multi-marathon runners is to run 24 more miles and then return to the Park to run the last mile and to celebrate. What a great program.

After we listened to a bit of music and watched the runners, we went for a hike. We had not been to the Park since last spring and we needed to update the Park's map. As we walked the trails we noted the differences from the old map. We were pleased to see quite a few improvements to the trails. The revised map will be out soon at cloudhiking.com.

The Cummins Falls Race Day was a big event. Thanks for all those that worked so hard to make it happen and congratulations to all the runners for participating.

Happy Cummins and Goings trails

cloudhiking.com - Cummins Falls

State Parks - Cummins Falls