On a weekend when the city of Columbus will celebrate its history, local runners also will have a chance to get some exercise.
At 8 a.m. Saturday, the inaugural Streetcar 5-Kilometer Run will start at the Tennessee Williams Home and Welcome Center, trace a portion of the old streetcar route that went through parts of downtown Columbus at the turn of the century, and wind up back at the Tennessee Williams Home.
Johnny Peters, of the Golden Triangle Running & Cycling Club, said Nancy Carpenter, the director of the Columbus Convention and Visitors Bureau, came up with the idea of having a 5-K run in conjunction with this weekend”s festivities honoring Williams, an American playwright who was born in Columbus in 1911.
Peters said the GTRCC assists in the organization and execution of races throughout the area. He said the club will have plenty of volunteers on hand to help with timing and other duties in an attempt to make the first race a success.
“It”s mostly a flat course,” said Peters, 56, who has been a member of the club for four or five years. “It is a nice three-mile run that will be quite scenic.”
Peters said organizers considered running a true streetcar route in downtown Columbus, but decided against it because it would go down and back and would be “boring” for runners. Instead, organizers opted to have part of the course go around the Mississippi University of Women to make it more enjoyable and to prevent against creating too much of a traffic problem.
The GTRCC will have opportunities for runners to join the club and registration for other events at the event, which is open to ages 14 and up. The registration fee is $20, and participants will receive a T-shirt. Registration will run from 6:30-7:45 a.m. at the Welcome Center at 300 Main Street in downtown Columbus. Checks should be made payable to the GTRCC.
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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