Earth Day 5K/Fun Run April 22 in Stamford

STAMFORD – What better way to mark Earth Day on April 22 than to get outdoors and take a run, or walk along a scenic route and initiate the arrival of spring.

Heather Clark, of TP's Cafe´, one of the organizers of the race,  is hoping to get lots of people of all ages to sign on to this first race sponsored by the Stamford Business Alliance. The 5K steps off at 9:45 a.m. and the children's one mile fun run steps off at 9 a.m. from the village parking lot next to the village swimming pool. 

The 5K will go from the parking and take a left onto South Street, then onto the Catskill Scenic Trail at the railroad station. It will continue along the trail and then go left onto Beaver Street and left on to Prospect St.. Take another left onto North Delaware St., go across Main St. to South Delaware Street and right onto Buntline Drive. From there it goes onto Railroad Ave before hanging a left at the driveway to Catskills Junction where it goes back onto the scenic trail, back to South Street and back to the parking lot. The Clark Sports Center in Cooperstown will provide official race times, according to Clark, with Chobani and Stewart’s Shops providing yogurt and chocolate milk, respectfully.

Prior to the 5K race, there will be a one-mile fun run for children at 9 a.m.. Along the route, kids can look for fairies, fireflies, rock painting and plant identification. Thanks to some local girl scouts, there will be a spot to paint the rocks at the start point. The fun run starts at the parking lot near the village pool and goes along the Catskills Rail Trail.

To register for either race, visit  https://tinyurl.com/yuva22vp/. Children younger than 11 are free, while students and senior citizens are $15 and adults are $30. In addition to a T-shirt, registrants will receive a packet of seeds and a seedling to plant in honor of Earth Day.

Certified Personal Trainer Ehren Curbelo of Essential Fitness has donated her time and is training people prior to the 5K. For more information, visit  https://tinyurl.com/v3xdjmra/.

Children are welcome to run the 5K, but if they don't want to, there will be several activities for children to do while their parents run the race. The girl scouts will be hosting a craft table to keep the kids busy with do it yourself birdfeeders and painted rocks. The rocks will be placed village for people to find. There will be opportunities to learn about the environment and listen to a live music performance by Bobby Curious. If it’s raining, the activities will move inside Churchill Gym.

The Stamford Business Alliance, which is sponsoring the race, along with 50 local businesses, is holding a market at the various businesses throughout the village, beginning at 11 a.m.. Businesses will have special Earth Day offerings throughout the day.

The Department of Environmental Conservation will be set up a demo booth in the parking lot where the race begins with a Milk Weed and Botanical seed give away, sponsored by the Mountain's Bounty Massage and Wellness and ACE Hardware.

In order to get things ship-shape and cleaned up for the arrival of spring, a pair of afternoons have been scheduled by the SBA to clean up things around the village prior to Earth Day. People are asked to meet at Catskills Junction on April 6 and 13 at 4 p.m..