Annual Run for the River Annual Race Draws Attention to Downtown Kinston
Everyone’s heard of 10K races. And 15K races are commonplace. But an 8K run? You’ll have to come to Kinston for that unusual event.
For the past four years, Pride of Kinston, the city’s downtown revitalization agency and one of the 57 Main Street communities in North Carolina, has hosted the annual 8K Run for the River in late March to call attention to the Neuse River and the city’s downtown.
But what began as an untested idea to help make the river an economic engine for the city has become a communitywide event that draws runners from all over the country and enlists the help of more than 150 local volunteers.
“People have really embraced this race,” says Adrian King, executive director of the Pride of Kinston. “We’ve had people come from L.A., Atlanta, Virginia – name the towns in eastern North Carolina, and we’ve had runners from those towns.”
In 2009, 154 runners ranging in age from 4 to 82 signed up for the 8K race and the shorter mile-long Fun Run. Top male and female winners in the longer race received $500 each and a specially designed bowl from Lenox china, which has a manufacturing facility in Kinston. Second-place winners received $300 and third-place winners $100.
The fast, mostly smooth and flat asphalt course began at the Neuseway Nature Center at Riverbank Road and Caswell Street. The 8K run through downtown ended on Heritage Street and Gordon, while the Fun Run began and ended within the Neuseway Nature Center. The event was sponsored by a wide range of entities, from civic clubs and manufacturers to health-care companies and individuals.
King says word is getting out about the Run for the River.
“We found out there is a huge body of runners in the Research Triangle area. Runners are part of a cult, as it turns out, an underground network of highly connected people,” King says. “We knew that to do a race that got their attention, we had to do a race that went well. So, we do a race that runners enjoy. We have a whole lot of volunteers who help us do that – it’s become a real community event.”
Run for the River has also served its purpose in drawing attention to downtown revitalization, King adds.
“We’ve had to hit the pause button on our River Development project – a pedestrian bridge connecting to the business district downtown – because of the economy. But it’s been endorsed all over town, and now it’s just a question of getting the economy in shape so we can move on.”
Story by Laura Hill
