Metro 10 race in Albion has to re-route course after DOT denies use of Route 31 due to construction
Photo by Tom Rivers: Runners wait for the start of the 10-mile race on Aug. 19, 2017 on Route 31 in front of Bullard Park in Albion. The first 2 miles of the race are along Route 31, which will soon be under construction.
Event on Aug. 18 also needs to move post-race party from Bullard Park
ALBION – Organizers of the Metro 10 race are doing some last-minute scrambling to modify the course and relocate a post-race party after being notified by the state Department of Transportation that the course cannot include Route 31.
The DOT will soon have the road torn up for milling in Albion. The first 2 miles of the 10-mile race go on Route 31 from Bullard Park to Old Telegraph Road, just before the Orleans County Public Safety Building by the former Apollo Restaurant.
The last half-mile also goes on Route 31 after runners turn off Butts Road and head to the finish at Bullard.
The DOT notified race organizer Thom Jennings on Tuesday the state considers Route 31 would be unsafe for runners while the road is under construction. The Metro 10 on Aug. 18 also includes a 10-mile biking race for the first time. There is also a 5-mile running option.
Jennings has worked with Albion Police Chief Roland Nenni to look at alternative routes. The plan for now is to start and end the race in downtown Albion with a post-race party including music, beer and food on a closed off East Bank Street.
There are 320 participants signed up for the event so far. They compete for either Rochester or Buffalo. The metro with the most points earned form participants is awarded the Metro Cup. Rochester has won the title the first three years.
Jennings said he needs more community volunteers to be at intersections and crossing points to direct runners and cyclists. There may be confusion at different spots with the new course, especially where the 10-mile course and 5-mile intersect and veer in different directions.
The Metro 10 could also use volunteers to direct people to parking in the downtown area. To reach Jennings, send him an email at thom@metro10race.com.
“We need bodies,” he said today. “We need people to stand at intersections and direct people.”
He also is having more signs made with directional arrows to guide people along the course.
The 10-mile route for Aug. 18 is tentatively planned to start in the downtown and head north on Route 98 to Watt Farms, where runners go through an orchard and come out on Bacon Road. (Cyclists have a slightly different route that doesn’t include the orchard.) From Bacon Road, participants head east to Brown Road and then south to Densmore Street in the village. Then they go east on Densmore to Zig Zag Road to Densmore Road outside the village. The course then goes south to the towpath along the Erie Canal. Participants then go west on the towpath to Brown Street. There they get off the towpath, head north on Brown Street and turn left on Linwood Avenue. Then it’s another left on Ingersoll Street with a finish at East Bank Street by the Village Hall.
A course certifier is expected to be out in about a week to verify the distances.
The race starts at 8 a.m. Most of the participants should be done by 10 a.m. Jennings encouraged residents to be out on the course to cheer on the runners and cyclists.
