Thursday, March 25, 2010

Rhapsodizing about the Apalachee Regional Park Trail

[ The Leon County Division of Parks and Recreation is submitting the Apalachee Regional Park Cross-Country course for a national award for new recreational facilities. Strangely enough, someone thought it would be a good idea if I wrote a letter supporting the application. I really should take Dr. Johnson's advice about writing more seriously, but, because I didn't, here is what I wrote. ]

The Apalachee Regional Park Trail cross-country course is one of very few facilities in the United States designed and constructed primarily for cross-country running. Less than a year old, the ARPT has already served as the venue for a major invitational hosted by Florida State University, a high school district championship, and the Florida state high school all-star cross-country meet. The course is open year-round for training and is also an excellent place for walking and cyclo-cross bicycling.

The course was conceived late in 2008. The goal was to construct a first-rate cross-country running course, thereby alleviating conflicts between cross-country events and other users at parks in Leon County. Pat Plocek of the Leon County Division of Parks and Recreation, Bob Braman of the Florida State University cross-country and track programs, and Brian Corbin of Tallahassee's Gulf Winds Track Club decided on an unused part of the Apalachee Regional Park as a site for the course. Before becoming part of the park, the land had spent a couple of decades as a buffer for the Leon County Landfill; prior to that it had been used for grazing cattle. It included an attractive combination of forest, field, and hills on the slopes of the Lake Lafayette basin, along with room for future expansion.

Leon County's Division of Parks and Recreation moved ahead with the project in 2009. The Gulf Winds Track Club and the Florida State University Athletic Department each contributed funds. Volunteers from those two groups and the community at large turned out on four work-days during the summer of 2009 that put some of the final touches on the course, which was finished in time for the 2009 cross-country season. The course was formally dedicated on 10 October 2009 during the Florida State University Invitational Cross-Country Meet.

The Apalachee Regional Park Trail course has already been the site for five-kilometer and eight-kilometer races; it could also be used as a venue for three-kilometer middle school events. When expanded it will easily be able to handle NCAA championship-length ten-kilometer races or international-length twelve-kilometer races. Even the trails through the woods are wide enough to accommodate races with hundreds of runners. There is already adequate parking for large events, and the park's location on US 27 makes it easily accessible. The anticipated addition of permanent distance and directional markers will make the course more friendly for both racing and training. Farther into the future, the Lafayette Heritage trail system will connect to the Apalachee Regional Park Trail, making it more attractive to hikers and cyclists as well as runners.

Embraced by the Tallahassee running community, the Apalachee Regional Park Trail is a fine facility with a bright future.

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Posted by Herb Wills at 12:05 AM
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