We’re in the final stages now of the revamp and re-launch of RichmondOutside.com. I’d like to say it’ll happen sometime late next week, but don’t hold me to that. Among the many tasks associated with making this website the go-to resource for outdoor recreation lovers in the RVA, has been forming partnerships with like-minded folks and businesses in the area.

Last week, for instance, I met up with Patton Gleason at Crossroads coffee shop for lunch. Gleason is the owner of OptimalRun.com, which sells shoes and running accessories online. He also gives  running seminars and coaches individuals. Soon he’ll be launching a business offering running tours of Richmond. The dude doesn’t have much spare time, as you can see, but he’s agreed to write a monthly running piece for RichmondOutside.

During our lunch, Gleason told me a story that drove home for me why I’m so excited to pour my energy into this site. If you’re a runner, you’ve probably heard of Christopher McDougall. If not, maybe you’ve heard of his book — Born to Run. It became a mini-sensation when it was released back in 2011. Well, McDougall was in town two weekends ago for the James River Writers Conference. When Gleason saw that (via Twitter), he Tweeted McDougall asking if he wanted to go for a run that Saturday. He figured it was a long shot, but McDougall said yes. Gleason gathered 40 of his closest friends and they all took McDougall on a four-or-so-mile mini running tour of Richmond, starting and ending downtown. Here was McDougall’s Tweet to Gleason after the weekend:

patton, i spent the whole trip home mulling whether to move to richmond. the run was that much fun. encore!

It reminds me of when Chris Hull, Pat Calvert and I took Outside Magazine writer Jon Billman fishing and snorkeling for catfish near Pipeline Rapid.  He said about the same thing McDougall did  then wrote a paean to Richmond in the magazine when we were named Best River Town. The word is getting out.

On October 15 at 2 p.m. the public is invited to the official opening of the new and improved Great Shiplock Park. (If you’re not familiar with what’s been going on at this James River Park System parcel on the north side of the river, click here and here.) In her most recent email newsletter, Beth Weisbrod, executive director of the Virginia Capital Trail Foundation, gives us a thumbnail history of how the park went from overlooked JRPS parcel to ($550,000 later) the Richmond trailhead for the Virginia Capital Trail:

About 18 months ago, as we were preparing for the city approval process of our trailhead design, we were challenged by Meg Turner of Capital Trees to think bigger. She introduced us to Jay Hugo and Jill Nolt of the architecture firm 3North, who showed us in drawings what she meant — how the whole park could call out to trail users to sit, enjoy the views of the Kanawha Canal and James River, and take in the beauty and history. Lucky for us, Richmond has several corporate citizens, private foundations, other nonprofits, and individuals who also like to think big and share a passion to make Richmond a better place. What we’ll be cutting the ribbon on next week is the result of a successful mix of partners, collaborators, and generous supporters, to the huge benefit of anyone passing through downtown Richmond along Dock Street or the Virginia Capital Trail. 

Ramps now take users across the James River and Kanawha Canal from the park to Chapel Island.

Just across the entrance to the park, trailhead amenities like benches, shade structures, and bike racks encourage people to stop. The views, history, and other nearby attractions will encourage them to linger. We built ramps on either side of the Kanawha Canal locks so that wheels can easily cross them and people can enjoy the new trails on Chapel Island. We added light poles to make it safer at night, and bright LED lights along the Trail that run off of solar panels. On the western edge of the park, our friends at Capital Trees designed a biofilter to cleanse rainwater before it goes into the river. They also added landscaping, not just to make the park pretty, but to further manage stormwater in an environmentally friendly way. 

I met up with Weisbrod last week to hear about the project, and she said she’d love to see as many Richmonders as possible flood the park for the October 15th ribbon cutting. The mayor will be there, as will other civic leaders, and they need to know that while this trailhead is now complete, there is much work to do to finish Richmond’s portion of the trail.