Metro 10 race is sold out for Aug. 20
Thom Jennings, race organizer for the upcoming Metro 10 race in Albion, is pictured with one of the newly designed medals for finishers of the race on Aug. 20.
ALBION – The second Metro 10 race is sold out. All 300 spots have been taken for the Aug. 20 race that features runners from Buffalo and Rochester competing for the Metro 10 cup and bragging rights as the top running community.
This year’s race starts at 8:20 a.m. at Bullard Park, up from the 10 a.m. start in the debut race last year. Runners in the first race asked for an earlier start when the temperatures aren’t quite as hot.
The race is also scheduled the same day as the Rock the Park music festival at Bullard. The two events should feed off of each other. There will be a post-race party for runners at Bullard featuring food and music from Buffalo based Tiger Chung Lee. After the post-race party, Rock the Park will start with a good-size crowd from Metro 10 to kick off the music festival with several local bands.
“As the runners are leaving, Rock the Park will be coming in,” said Thom jennings, the Metro 10 race organizer. “We both have common golas of wanting to revitalize Albion.”
The Metro 10 course also has been modified to better accommodate runners seeking a 5-mile option. The total 10-mile course is confined between Gaines Basin and Butts Road, and heads as far north at Watt Farms, where runners on the 10-mile course will go through the Watt Orchards.
Here is the new course map for the race on Aug. 20 in Albion.
There are about 225 runners signed up for the 10-mile portion of the race, and 75 for the 5 miler. Everyone who finishes the race earns points for their metro area, either Buffalo or Rochester. There are also additional points for the top runners overall and the leading age group finishers, as well as a tenacity bonus for the last finisher in both the 5- and 10-mile race. (Click here to see the scoring system.)
Add up all of the points, and you have the winner of the second Metro 10. The winning team gets a taste of victory – a custom engraved glass goblet filled with Victory Brew, a craft beer from the Victory Brewing Company.
Rochester won the debut race last year on the strength of overall participation. The race is more even this year in entries, with 60 percent from Rochester and 40 percent from Buffalo. Last year Buffalo runners claimed many of the top spots in age groups, but Rochester claimed the cup because it had so many more runners.
Metro 10 organizers have pushed hard to recruit more runners from Buffalo, and those efforts have paid off, Jennings said.
Each Metro also had a team captain to help promote the race. Marissa Pace serves as Buffalo captain with help from Lisa Rybke-Thrash and Sandra Baxter, and Vickey Beaver heads the Rochester team. Jack Burris has been promoting the race locally. Wayne Litchfield has been coordinating the team of volunteers.
The Metro 10 Cup has made appearances in the region to help build support and awareness for the upcoming race in Albion. Here the cup is pictured outside First Niagara Center in Buffalo with bronze statues of the famed French Connection, the Buffalo Sabres stars in the 1970s – Gilbert Perreault, Rene Robert and Rick Martin on Friday night.
Jennings said he is pleased the event sold out. He said is it poised for steady growth in the future. He wanted to cap the event at 300 so he would not run out of medals, shirts, food and other supplies for the day. (The medals have to be ordered six weeks in advance.) He would like to see the race gradually grow so local services aren’t overtaxed with the event.
He praised Albion Police Chief Roland Nenni for working out a plan for traffic control and safety for the race.
Jennings said in the future the Metro 10 could add a biking component for a duathlon.
“Right now we want to make sure everyone has a good experience on Aug. 20,” Jennings said. “We have created a foundation for the future.”
Rochester claimed the Metro 10 Cup in 2015 and many of the runners posed for photos with the trophy afterwards, including this group, from left: Jared Ziegler, Ron Ziegler and Ed Martin.
