Friday, August 29, 2008
Between the incipient onset of fall and my recent ride through Jordan on the Canalway Trail, I've been thinking quite a bit about the Jordan Alpine Classic 8.5 mile race, which I ran for the first and only time back in 2005. According to an article by Dr Kamal Jabbour in the August 17, 1998 Syracuse Post Standard (and currently archived on his website of "Dr J on Running" columns, which ran in the Post Standard from 1997 until it's downsizing in 2003) the race was orginally started in 1980 as a way to draw more people to the Elbridge Country Fair. The 7.5 mile race course was designed by Hans Meixner, Tim Sandstrom, and Kenneth Wilson to take advantage of the the varied local terrain, with part of the course on local roads but much of it traversing private property. The run included fields, woods, hills, and a crossing of the Skaneatles Creek. When the Elbridge fair ended in 1992, the Alpine Classic Run ended as well, until it was revived in 1994 as part of the nearby town of Jordan's Fall Festival. A mile of trail was added to allow the start and finish to be at the Jordan Festival grounds, making the race 8.5 miles long.
I ran the Alpine Classic in 2005 and had an absolute blast. Actually, that was literally how the race started - with a blast from a small black powder cannon! I wasn't able to run it in 2006, initially because it conflicted with the Adirondack Marathon and then because I was injured from my bike crash in August 2006, but I hoped to run it last year until learning in early August that it had been cancelled. When there was no mention of it on this year's Fall Festival schedule I figured it was probably gone forever, for reasons most of us would never know...
Today curiosity got the better of me and I spent a while searching the web for references to the race... didn't find anything I hadn't seen before, other than a 2nd site claiming to be the official site for Jordan NY and mentioning the Allpine Run as part of the Fall Festival. A first I thought this was a revamped version of the site I'd visited previously, but then found that one as well... who have thought there'd be competition to be the official site for info regarding Jordan? Anyway, in the midst of that, I came across an e-mail address for info regarding the Fall Festival and decided to send a question about whether or not the Alpine Run would ever be back. Later in the day I recieved a very nice e-mail from one of the Festival co-chairs, with the following info:
The Alpine Run is not gone forever. We are hoping a group will step forward to bring it back the the Jordan Fall Festival. Just a week ago someone stepped forward so we're hoping we may have it back for the 2009 Festival. If you, or anyone you know is interested in volunteering to get it back please let me know.Way cool! There's a possibility this great race may return!
(As an aside - if anyone reading this wants to volunteer to help bring back the Jordan Alpine Run, please contact Maureen Doyle, Fall Festival Co-Chair.)
JMH
