‘Amazing Trail Race’ raises money for Heritage Trail events, maintenance
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Lisa Lotito, vice president at the Level Green Community Women’s Club, was already a big fan of both the Westmoreland Heritage Trail, and CBS show “The Amazing Race.”
And when she heard that trail officials were thinking of hosting a trail scavenger hunt for children, it dovetailed perfectly with an idea she was considering for the club: an “Amazing Race” along the trail, modeled on the TV show and used as a fundraiser.
“I use the trail all the time, and it’s just such a great community resource,” Lotito said. “I contacted the trail and we decided to do a joint event.”
The “Amazing Trail Race,” whose proceeds will benefit trail programs and maintenance, challenged teams of one or two runners to solve a clues or find scavenger items along a five-mile stretch of the trail and finish in the fastest time to capture a $300 prize. The second-place and third-place teams will get $175 and $75, respectively.
Contestants were given all 12 clues at the starting line, in B-Y Park along Route 130 in Trafford. The clues led to other spots along the trail. The race also included some type of task — known as a roadblock on the television show, and which only one member of a team can complete — along the route.
Lisa Cimbala and husband Alan Hill, of Irwin, spent Saturday morning walking around B-Y Park with friend Joe Silverio of Trafford, able to find one another easily with matching orange “Joe’s Coffee Club Runners” shirts on.
“Between the three of us, we’ve done hundreds of races,” Hill said.
The group was one of about 30 teams to register for the event.
“Every Sunday, we meet at my house, have coffee and run,” Silverio said. “We’ve done 5Ks, Spartan races, all kinds of things.”
Wendy Davis, who volunteers with the Heritage Trail’s publicity committee, said the event is a testament to the wide popularity of the trail.
“A lot of the folks here today are not from around here,” Davis said. “Lisa told me she hasn’t seen a zip code repeated so far when people are getting registered.”
Heather Racchini of Plum and team partner Melissa Roche of Irwin were happy to have a chance for an organized running event, something they’ve missed for the past six months.
“We haven’t really done races at all, given covid, so this is nice,” Roche said. “It’s local, and it’s nice to do something a little different.”
Davis said events like this are helpful not only because they help raise the money necessary to keep the trail in good condition, but also they help get more people interested in performing that work.
“You get people involved in fun stuff like this, and some of them also then get involved in volunteering and helping out,” she said.
Lotito made her husband run the course to ensure it was challenging enough.
“The clues and the different things people have to find are not necessarily hidden on the trail, but they need to be solved,” she said. “We tried to make it something that would utilize what the trail has to offer, as well as provide an element of intellect,” she said.