Two big JJTrail events to report on in 2021:
JJTrail Race Returns!
First – the return of the JJTrail Race on June 13, 2021! We had nearly 100 runners and walkers for race day. Max Goodman won for the men’s overall and Cassidy Lena won for the women’s overall.
Post race note is here. Click here for complete 2021 results. We welcomed back donors, sponsors, volunteers, and runners as the warmer weather allowed greater outdoor activity with less risk of covid exposure.
This race was postponed from April 2020 after the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns closed the schools and our country. Our generous sponsors kept up their support and most of our registered runners stayed in our registration system awaiting their next chance to run on the JJTrail as a community. In the spring of 2021 their patience was rewarded with approval to stage the race 14 months after the original scheduled date.
Thank you to our runners, volunteers, and sponsors for hanging in there with us through an uncertain time!
Final Link Boardwalk and Trail Construction
Second – We focused on the Final Link Boardwalk and trail during 2021. The KLSD Operations & Maintenance crew worked on a 100′ section of trail to create a level trail in the Final Link section approaching the John Jay Contest Field. After their initial work was complete in April 2021, the JJTrail Volunteers set about with a plan to ford the drainage features with a 25+’ long “Final Link” boardwalk complete with ramps for easy access by the school’s utility vehicles. In addition, the section of the newly leveled trail needed to be prepared with a surface that would minimize vegetation growth, direct water run-off, and keep the trail from eroding.
During the Summer and Fall, our all-volunteer crew — funded entirely by our community donations and race sponsors — completed the boardwalk and most of the uphill section of the trail preparation and construction. The final pieces that remain with the project are 1.) completing the final 25 feet of the uphill trail, 2.) completing the lower 70′ of trail section downhill from the final link boardwalk, 3.) finishing up the south earthworks of the Championship Bridge, and 4.) completing the trail signage for the JJ Community Trail including trail maps, directional markings, and recognition.
2022 Plan – Finish the Project, Have a Grand Opening Celebration, Hold JJTrail Race, Walk, Dash Event!
For 2022 we plan to finish all of the remaining open projects on the JJTrail. This includes the final trail stretches on the Final Link, the south on-ramp for the Championship Bridge, the course signage, and any projects that have small remaining details to finish or present themselves as needing to be done to complete the course. If you can help by donating to the 501(c)3 account for trail building run by the John Jay Cross Country and Track & Field teams, we certainly appreciate and recognize your contribution!
In addition to the work to be undertaken, we also plan to have the John Jay Community Trail Race on Sunday, April 3, 2022 (registration open now!) and the Grand Opening Celebration for the JJTrail the evening before then on Saturday, April 2, 2022 at Orchard Square shopping center in Cross River. We hope you can join us for these events!
Sign up on our mailing list if you want to be notified of the events and celebrations — and if you’d like to be a sponsor of these upcoming events!
Let us know at jjtrailrace@gmail.com if you have any questions or if you’d like to help out as a volunteer either on the trail or with the race organizing and race day activities.
On behalf of our wonderful volunteers and fantastic supporters of the trail building effort, thanks everyone for your continued support! Covid sure put the brakes on our 2020 plans for the JJTrail, but we have persevered in 2020 and 2021 and are in the home stretch for 2022!
…Rob Cummings, volunteer JJTrail Race director
