Reflections Of The Smokies
OK All You Runners, Help The Friends Of Great Smoky Mountains Celebrate The Reopening Of Cades Cove! 04/10/2010
Hey! Check it out, the Friends Of Great Smoky Mountains National Park are celebrating the opening of Cades cove by raising money for the park with a race around the loop road.
PRESS RELEASE Friday, April 9, 2010 For Immediate Release Contact: Holly Scott 800-845-5665 Friends of Great Smoky Mountains National Park Registration Opens Cades Cove Loop Lope- It's Now or Never! KODAK, TN - April 25, 2010- Friends of Great Smoky Mountains National Park invites runners to register for the first and only Cades Cove Loop Lope on Sunday, April 25, 2010. Registration is powered by Active.com, and registration will take place online at http://www.active.com/5k-race/townsend-tn/cades-cove-loop-lope-2010 . Registration for the race will open tomorrow (Saturday, April 10, 2010) at 6:30 a.m. EDT.
For this event there will be no race day registration. Participation is limited by the 150 parking spaces available in Cades Cove for the race. Ride share is encouraged so that as many runners as possible may participate in this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Friends of the Smokies is utilizing the team registration function on Active.com to issue the 150 car passes, which will be sent via U.S. Mail to the first 150 teams to register. One car pass will be issued per team. "A team consists of two or more participants. Teams will ride together but are not required to race together, since team members can register for either the 5K or 10 mile course option," explains Friends' Marketing Director Holly Scott.
Vehicle access to Cades Cove before noon on Sunday, April 25, 2010 will require one of the special Cades Cove Loop Lope car passes. A checkpoint will be installed at the Townsend Wye for verification. After 12:00 p.m. on Sunday. April 25th, the road will open to normal traffic.
A very limited number of mass transit spots will be offered through a partnership with Cades Cove Heritage Tours. Those registrants will receive a shuttle pass via U.S. Mail rather than a car pass. The company will provide both of its nineteen-passenger shuttles to transport runners from the Townsend Visitors Center that morning. Registration for the mass transit option will not be available on Active.com. It will begin on Monday, April 12, 2010. For more information on this option please e-mail Holly Scott at fotshb@bellsouth.net.
The registration price for either the 5K course or the full 10 mile loop run is $60 per person. Proceeds from the Cades Cove Loop Lope will benefit a variety of programs in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, like education, trail maintenance, and natural and cultural resource conservation.
Runners will receive a special t-shirt, a reusable shopping bag filled with goodies, and a very special race medallion. Prizes will be awarded to the overall male and female 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishers for both races, as well as the top finishers in each age category.
"This is something that runners have requested for years, but the Park has declined to permit it because of the enormous popularity of the Cove. The Park decided to offer us this opportunity in celebration of the Loop Road's first major renovation in over 30 years. The Park confirmed just last week that construction would be finished a month ahead of schedule, so we had a very small window to pull it all together. We could not have done it without the support of Kristy Altman and the Knoxville Track Club,' says Friends' President Jim Hart.
Race sponsors are 21st Century Mortgage, Citizens National Bank, NOC's Great Outpost, Pilot Travel Centers, Smoky Mountain Convention & Visitors Bureau, Dancing Bear Lodge, Knoxville News-Sentinel, WBIR-TV, WIVK/WNOX, Bluegill Creative, Cades Cove Heritage Tours, Dollywood, Food City, Hard Rock Café Gatlinburg, Historic Springs Bottling Company, Knoxville Track Club, LeConte Medical Center, and Runner's Market.
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Since 1993, Friends of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, a 501 (c) (3) not-for-profit organization, has helped to preserve and protect Great Smoky Mountains National Park by raising funds and awareness and providing volunteers for needed projects. Friends of the Smokies has raised more than $28 million in support of education, historic preservation, natural resource conservation, and wildlife research and protection. For more information, visit www.FriendsOfTheSmokies.org
For this event there will be no race day registration. Participation is limited by the 150 parking spaces available in Cades Cove for the race. Ride share is encouraged so that as many runners as possible may participate in this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Friends of the Smokies is utilizing the team registration function on Active.com to issue the 150 car passes, which will be sent via U.S. Mail to the first 150 teams to register. One car pass will be issued per team. "A team consists of two or more participants. Teams will ride together but are not required to race together, since team members can register for either the 5K or 10 mile course option," explains Friends' Marketing Director Holly Scott.
Vehicle access to Cades Cove before noon on Sunday, April 25, 2010 will require one of the special Cades Cove Loop Lope car passes. A checkpoint will be installed at the Townsend Wye for verification. After 12:00 p.m. on Sunday. April 25th, the road will open to normal traffic.
A very limited number of mass transit spots will be offered through a partnership with Cades Cove Heritage Tours. Those registrants will receive a shuttle pass via U.S. Mail rather than a car pass. The company will provide both of its nineteen-passenger shuttles to transport runners from the Townsend Visitors Center that morning. Registration for the mass transit option will not be available on Active.com. It will begin on Monday, April 12, 2010. For more information on this option please e-mail Holly Scott at fotshb@bellsouth.net.
The registration price for either the 5K course or the full 10 mile loop run is $60 per person. Proceeds from the Cades Cove Loop Lope will benefit a variety of programs in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, like education, trail maintenance, and natural and cultural resource conservation.
Runners will receive a special t-shirt, a reusable shopping bag filled with goodies, and a very special race medallion. Prizes will be awarded to the overall male and female 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishers for both races, as well as the top finishers in each age category.
"This is something that runners have requested for years, but the Park has declined to permit it because of the enormous popularity of the Cove. The Park decided to offer us this opportunity in celebration of the Loop Road's first major renovation in over 30 years. The Park confirmed just last week that construction would be finished a month ahead of schedule, so we had a very small window to pull it all together. We could not have done it without the support of Kristy Altman and the Knoxville Track Club,' says Friends' President Jim Hart.
Race sponsors are 21st Century Mortgage, Citizens National Bank, NOC's Great Outpost, Pilot Travel Centers, Smoky Mountain Convention & Visitors Bureau, Dancing Bear Lodge, Knoxville News-Sentinel, WBIR-TV, WIVK/WNOX, Bluegill Creative, Cades Cove Heritage Tours, Dollywood, Food City, Hard Rock Café Gatlinburg, Historic Springs Bottling Company, Knoxville Track Club, LeConte Medical Center, and Runner's Market.
# # #
Since 1993, Friends of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, a 501 (c) (3) not-for-profit organization, has helped to preserve and protect Great Smoky Mountains National Park by raising funds and awareness and providing volunteers for needed projects. Friends of the Smokies has raised more than $28 million in support of education, historic preservation, natural resource conservation, and wildlife research and protection. For more information, visit www.FriendsOfTheSmokies.org
