In a post last week on its website, the YWCA of Gettysburg & Adams County stated that, “We have made the difficult decision to cancel the CommUnity Spirit 10-Mile Race scheduled for Sunday, October 30.
The 10-Miler had been planned “as an alternative to the YWCA’s 30-year-old Spirit of Gettysburg 5K, which was run for the final time last June. Revised National Park Service rules prohibit the staging of running events on park service roadways,” according to the release.
The race course “was explicitly designed to include the full community (town and country) winding through the borough, out Steinwehr Avenue, and onto Millerstown Road, then Red Rock, Water Works, and Scott Roads before turning around and heading back into town for a finish on Johns Avenue, behind the Heritage Center building. A long and beautiful course, designed specifically not to include park service roadways.”
Unbeknownst to the YWCA’s planning group, the “only park-owned roads that are not part of the commemorative system of avenues are Granite Schoolhouse Lane, Wheatfield Road, and Millerstown Road. All three roads were present at the time of the Battle of Gettysburg in different forms.”
The issue was brought to the planners’ attention via a telephone call last Friday, October 14.
The YW’s website posting explained that “We had not consulted or advised the NPS of our planned course, not out of neglect but simply because we did not think it was necessary. We never even considered it. We applied for and obtained the required permits from the Borough of Gettysburg, Cumberland Township, and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.”
With Millerstown Road a vital component of the course, the National Park Services officials “contacted us again,” according to the release, “and graciously arranged for a meeting in order to see if we could agree on a way to stage our event within guidelines and not have to cancel it.”
However, “The YWCA determined that the alterations proposed would have significantly compromised the race-day experience we have been promising – and that runners would undoubtedly expect.”
The decision was made to cancel the event and refund all registration fees.
The full and original posting is available on YWCA website.