The “Save the Trail” race has returned for a second year – a 5K race and neighborhood walk will be held at Elm Street Park on Saturday, May 29.
Last year the runners literally ran away from the trail they were claiming to “save”. The race has been changed this year, so the runners will actually use part of the Interim CCT. The race course has been moved to start at Elm Street Park, will be on local streets in the Town of Chevy Chase for a while, then will take runners down a short section of the Interim CCT to Connecticut Avenue and back.
The race has been shortened from last year, to be only 5K. If the race is to showcase a trail the runners wish to “save”, why not have a full 10K race and stay on the Interim CCT for its length, or at least to Rock Creek Park, to showcase it properly? Because any race on the trail that begins in the Town of Chevy Chase has a huge problem: Connecticut Avenue.
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Interim CCT where it crosses Connecticut Avenue
Race organizers cannot stage a competitive race across six lane Connecticut Avenue without shutting it down, and that is a bigger deal than they can take on. But a race from Elm Street Park to Connecticut Avenue and back will only be a 4K race, and who does 4K races? So, race organizers have little choice but to make up some extra distance by having runners go in a circle on the streets of Chevy Chase to beef the race up to a whopping 5K.
If the Purple Line is built, the trail will be finished into downtown Silver Spring, will be paved, will be wider than it is now in many places, and will be given bridges and underpasses for grade separated crossings of all major highways, including Connecticut Avenue. See MTA Fast Facts for more on the plan to finish the trail.
The runners are running in circles to help the Town of Chevy Chase preserve the trail in its unfinished form – best suited for the Town as its own local walking trail. They are running against their own best interests.