Old Colony Running Events will host the 9th annual End of Summer Classic

According to Childs,”the goal is not to create the largest event but instead to produce the best event on a limited budget. We try to change it up every year to keep it fresh”. Over the years they’ve included an ElliptiGO ride for older or injured runners who can not run due to ailing knees and hips. ElliptiGO racing is a great alternative to running and mimics the running motion without the impact on joints.  Childs has been an early proponent of the new sport.

They’ve also added sprint points on the race course similar to those made popular by the Tour de France. They strive to provide exposure to new businesses that develop products or services for runners or the local community. The runners village near the finish line is always an interesting place to meet and greet people and enjoy food or product samples or take a test ride, etc…This year in addition to ElliptiGO demos they will have a Tesla automobile on hand and will be providing samples of a new product called Run Gum which may help runners prepare for and recover from a race. New race sponsor, Saucony will also display their impressive lineup of running shoes.

Old Colony Running Events is comprised a collection of friends who combine their resources to host running events at local open spaces and conservation areas in Eastern Massachusetts. The goal is to get runners off the roads and into our beautiful parks and also to raise money in support of the host locations. Over the tears they’ve raised awareness of and funds for many of the area’s great parks and land conservancies including the Lincoln Land Conservation Trust and the Trustees of Reservations and  many smaller parks.

“Running in the nicest places, away from the noise, pollution and safety issues associated with public roads,  just makes sense to me,” says Childs. “There is a huge wave of support for trail running across the US and we see this as an extension of that movement even though some of our events occur on paved surfaces.” Running is by far the largest mass participatory activity in the US with almost twenty million runners. In Massachusetts alone there are almost 1,500 annual events. The increase in road race popularity across the country has lead to pushback from residents and officials in many cities due to traffic closures. In some communities there is a race every weekend requiring road closures. “This is the solution to many of the problems associated with running on public roads,” says Childs.

The only drawbacks are usually limited trail/ road width and parking which often limit participation and fundraising potential for event organizers. One of the first considerations for most race organizers is parking accessability. This is not an issue for Old Colony since they focus on smaller events and they are a not for profit organization, not relying on  on race revenue to survive. “There’s a place in the sport for all of us and we wouldn’t dream of hosting a huge event on the roads,” said Childs. Childs sees these access issues as challenges which have allowed his organization to create a niche in the marketplace when other race organizers have avoided these smaller events.

For information on the End of Summer Classic taking place at bare Cove park in Hingham, Massachusetts on Friday, August 26thgo to: http://ift.tt/2aGLV4C