Happy Birthday Greenline
Memphis Citizens Plan Festivities to Celebrate Trail’s One-Year Anniversary
By Michelle Corbet
The Shelby Farms Park Conservancy is bringing the community together for a weekend of neighborhood block parties, a basketball tournament and a half marathon race to raise money for the trail while celebrating it’s one year anniversary.
The Greenline is a seven-mile long paved trail linking Midtown Memphis to Shelby Farms Park. It opened Oct. 9 2010.
“Our theme is Bands, Bikes and Block Parties,” said Jen Andrews, Shelby Farms Park Conservancy’s director of communications. “We wanted to design an event that would capture the atmosphere of the trail.”
The Greenline anniversary weekend kicks off on Saturday, Oct. 1 with block parties on the Greenline from noon to 4 p.m. There will be live bands, kid’s activities, arts and crafts, local product vendors and food and beer for purchase.
“We will have great Memphis bands, arts and crafts, Memphis vendors that are our partners, non-profit booths, inflatables and a Kids Give Back tent tile project that will let the kids decorate a tile telling how it (Shelby Farms Greenline) has impacted Memphis,” said Natalie Wilson, Shelby Farms Park Conservancy’s events manager.
Entry is free to all block parties. Some activities are free and some cost a dollar or two, said Andrews. A Kids Give Back tile costs $2 to decorate.
There will be three parties along the trial: at the Podesta Street entrance, Waring Road entrance and High Point Terrace entrance connecting East Memphis, the U of M area and Midtown neighborhoods.
“The Greenline has unified the community; it has abled communities to breakout of their tight knit neighborhoods and interact with the community as a whole, it’s a healthy alternative to sitting at home in front of the TV for family activity and it cuts back on negative images about our city like child obesity and crime,” said Wilson. “It’s a safe place for families and something unique to Memphis.”
Aerobic Cruiser Hybrid Cycles, the Greenline anniversary’s main sponsor, will have its human/electric hybrid bikes available for bike enthusiasts to view and enjoy at the High Point Terrance Block Party. For more information visit the Aerobic Cruiser Website.
Activities will also take place at the end of the trail near the Tillman Street entrance where the first Greenline 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament will take place at Lester Community Center from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
“That idea came from our education and outreach manager, Matt Farr,” said Andrews. “We challenged him to come up with something fun to do on that side of the trial. It starts with a “b”; we should have called it Bands, Bikes, Block Parties and Basketball.”
The tournament will feature a live DJ; face painting, activities for kids and food available for purchase. There are 16 teams consisting of three team members on each team made up of men and women ages 18 and above. The tournament is double elimination with the $20 participation fee going toward the Greenline.
Saturday night the party continues with Park After Dark from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Shelby Farms Park Visitor Center. Party-goers can watch the sunset over Patriot Lake as they listen to the music of John Paul Keith and the One Four Fives. There will also be activities for kids. Ciao Bella Italian Grill is catering the event, $10 per adult, $5 per child.
There will be a booth at Park After Dark where half marathon participants can pick up their race day packets for Sunday’s race.
“The packet has a lot of goodies including coupons and brochures, a special dri-fit t-shirt, which will soon be a collectible and a custom toe tag, which is a chip you put in your shoe lace, all the cool races have them,” said Andrews. “They record your exact finish time and runners usually collect them.”
The Shelby Farms Greenline Half Marathon is the first race the Shelby Farms Park Conservancy has ever produced. The half marathon is a benefit race supporting the trail. All proceeds from the race will go towards the maintenance of the Shelby Farms Greenline.
“The work is continuous and the Greenline cannot take place without the generosity of people giving back to the park they enjoy,” said Wilson. “The donations truly impact our mission.”
The race is 13.1 miles long starting at Patriot Lake, winding throughout the park and ending on the other side of the lake at the Visitors Center. For a detailed map of the race course visit the Shelby Farms Greenline Half Marathon website.
“The route begins near the visitor’s center, it goes through part of the park, across the pedestrian bridge at Wolf River and finishes through the park, mostly along the last leg of the Greenline,” said Andrews.
The race starts at 8 a.m. Walkers and strollers are welcome as long as you can finish the race within four hours.
“With the advice from the Memphis Track Club, we decided not to have waves but put all competitive runners at the front with walkers and strollers behind,” said Andrews.
Everyone who finishes the race will receive a finisher medal, specially designed with a buffalo on the front. Awards will be given to the top three male and female overall.
Volunteers are a vital part of the Shelby Farms Park Conservancy team as they have a small staff and a large work environment. Andrews said there were over 20,000 volunteer hours logged last year.
“We’ll probably have more than 150 volunteers at the race,” said Andrews. “They do many things; they are involved with the creation of the event, registration, stuffing race packets, working the water stations and encouraging runners.”
The Greenline has given Memphians who are passionate about running and riding the trails a place to connect and interact in their community.
“The Greenline has reenergized Memphis,” said Andrews. “We knew it would be popular but we couldn’t anticipate how it gave people who love to bike and run a new outlet and people who haven’t done it in a while a way to rediscover that love.”
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