Course Connections showcase half marathon neighborhoods

The News and Sentinel Half Marathon winds its way through many of the great neighborhoods of Parkersburg.

For the elite runners taking part in the race they likely don’t have much time to look around as they fly through the course with a nearly endless string of five-minute miles.

About 95 percent of the runners, do it at a much slower pace. Some runners, in fact, end up getting passed by the race walkers.

Over the last decade I have spent a lot of time along the course. I’ve driven it dozens of times and have walked much of the course late in the summer when we pass out a flyer that lets people know their streets will be closed on race day.

If spend a lot of time on any route, you start to notice interesting things along the way.

Last week we put together Course Connections to let people doing the event on Aug. 18 know a little more about the neighborhoods they will be passing through.

The online section is now part of www.newsandsentinelhalfmarathon.com, the website for the event. The section features dozens of tidbits about the course, along with photos. The Quincy Hill steps, the county courthouse and Riverview Cemetery are just a few of the locations featured.

Course Connections is a kind of self-guided walking (or running) tour, complete with water stops.

Of course you can take the tour here without setting foot outdoors.

Course Connect section: http://www.newsandsentinelhalfmarathon.com/page/category.detail/nav/5064/Course-Connections.html
Register to race: http://www.newsandsentinelhalfmarathon.com/page/category.detail/nav/5005/Register.html