FOOTPRINT Lake Grapevine Runners & Walkers
July - August 2012
www.runnersandwalkers.com
The city of Grapevine designated a Runner Friendly Community
T
he city of Grapevine was recently designated as a Runner Friendly Community® by the Road Runners Club of America. This is a distinction that RAW and Grapevine residents can be proud of as we already knew that Grapevine is a great place to run and now the RRCA has confirmed what we already knew. Lake Grapevine Runners and Walkers president Kathryn Gleghorn worked with Grapevine’s Parks and Recreation Director Doug Evans to ensure that RAW’s application included all the latest information about what the city offers in the way of running paths, trails and city support to make Grapevine a Runner Friendly Community. Several RAW members attended the May City Council to show their support of our application and got to hear from Mayor William D. Tate and other council members what a positive impact RAW has had on the city’s health and fitness throughout the club’s 15 year existence. An optional part of the application was to submit a video highlighting how the community meets some or all of the Runner Friendly Community criteria outlined by the RRCA. Dennis
Dixon spent many hours filming and taking photos to put together our video, “Running all through Grapevine.” We were lucky enough to find a local vocal coach, Stefani Little Lynes to record Dennis’s lyrics to the Marvin Gaye classic, “I Heard It Through the Grapevine.” If you haven’t had a chance to view the video, you can check out the video on youtube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=4QJIiOUKe4Q&feature=youtube_gdata_player
RRCA’s Press Release ARLINGTON, Virginia – June 27, 2012 The Road Runners Club of America, the oldest and largest distance running organization in the United States, is pleased to announce the second round of 2012 selections for the Runner Friendly Community designation: Brambleton, VA; Des Moines, IA; Portland, OR; and Grapevine, TX. These communities have shown that they meet the program’s criteria, which includes community infrastructure, community support, and local government support for running. Each community has an infrastructure that can foster physical activity in a safe environment; a proven track record that organizations and businesses work together to promote running as a healthy exercise and sport; and there are positive
relationships between the running community and local government. “A lifelong Portland resident, I have run Portland streets, path, and trails for decades and have completed the Portland Marathon more than 25 times,” said Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-OR-3. “My extensive travels to communities throughout the country have convinced me that Portland’s runner-friendliness is far ahead of that in many other communities.” The goals of the Runner Friendly Community program are to shine a national spotlight on communities that standout as runner-friendly and provide incentives and ideas for communities to work towards becoming runner friendly communities. Runner friendly communities can increase the quality of life, improve physical activity for
residents as outlined in the National Physical Activity Plan, and provide for increased economic impact for the community. “Grapevine has over 24 miles of hike and bike trails and many miles of park roads and sidewalks,” said Grapevine Mayor William D. Tate. “We are very proud of the Grapevine Runners & Walkers Club in Grapevine as they promote an active and healthy lifestyle to our residents and also assist with trail maintenance in our city.” While runners do not require a lot of expensive equipment, there are several ways that local communities can invest to ensure that running is safe, affordable, accessible, and enjoyable for anyone that wants to run.