Long run to benefit Lunenburg project
Reynolds sets out to run 100K, raise funds
Started by a group of nowhigh school juniors when they were in seventh grade, the push for a skateboard park in Lunenburg has always been more akin to a marathon than a sprint.
Now, with the dream of a skatepark nearing reality, a run more than twice the length of an actual marathon will help the Lunenburg Skatepark Project reach the finish line.
On Nov. 21, Lunenburg resident James Reynolds will set out to run 100 kilometers throughout Lunenburg to garner donations to get the project closer to its $250,000 goal during the Run To Skate event.
“It must have been two years ago when I first saw (the project) and I liked the Facebook page and kind of followed along,” Reynolds said. “I was supposed to do a fundraising run for the father of a friend who was sick, but he’s fine now and there’s no run for it. I had done the training and still wanted to do something. With a lot of the races around here still postponed because of COVID, I got in touch with (the Lunenburg Skatepark Project) and figured I could kill two birds with one stone. I’d get to run and do it for a good cause.
“I grew up skateboarding and honestly, if there was a park downtown right now, I’d be going to it.”
Reynolds contacted the organizers in August and the wheels were set in motion. A long-distance runner, Reynolds originally aimed for 100 miles, but worried about being able to finish such a long course after beginning to train in June and coming off a shin injury.
“I wanted to do 100 miles, but didn’t have time to properly train,” he said. “And with donations riding on it, I didn’t want to not finish. We settled on 100K and here we are.”
Reynolds began the long-distance runs several years ago after a friend asked him to go to Colorado to run the last half of a 100mile race alongside him.
“A switch just flipped in me,” Reynolds said. “I just thought it was pretty cool.”
Anthony Caiozzo, President of the Skatepark Board, said he and his crew jumped at the opportunity to work with Reynolds and were impressed by the commitment he was willing to make.
“Running 100K is still really
impressive,” Caiozzo said. “It’s insanely far. He’ll probably be running for 11 or 12 hours straight all throughout Lunenburg.”
In the first few days of promotion, organizers had secured seven of 100 available sponsorship slots on word of mouth alone and without pounding the pavement for donors. The group hopes to have a sponsor for each kilometer Reynolds is running. Donations are being accepted at lunenburgskatepark.com.
“We just started advertising it on Facebook and Youtube last week,” Caiozzo said.
The Lunenburg Skatepark Project is a product of the Genius Hour, which is a schoolsponsored program that allows students to come up with a plan and try to conceive it. With no safe and legal area to skate and bike in town, the project’s founders aimed to build a space for such activities.
Aidan Swift, Mason Whitcomb, Chris Roy, Griffin Caiozzo – Anthony’s son – and Aidan Moore have pushed the idea through the planning stages and are now determining which of two possible locations work best for their vision.
The plan is for a permanent concrete facility covering 10,000 square feet for biking, skateboarding and scooter use. Construction of the park is set to take place over a pair of phases.
“They’ve hit critical mass and we’re hoping to build a park around June.
We’re in the design engagement process; we’re figuring out who’s going to design this and eventually who’s going to build it,” Anthony Caiozzo said.
The group has narrowed down the location for the proposed park to a pair of sites. And the group’s members have told anyone willing to listen about the project and touted the good it will do, landing on local TV and NPR and going from “scared seventh graders to these kids who really know what they’re doing,” Anthony Caiozzo said.
To that end, the project is already a success to at least one proud parent – and likely several others.
“It’s not just about building a park at this point, it’s the social and professional development, building connections. They’ve gotten so much training and experience out of this,” Anthony Caiozzo said. “I tell people all the time that I don’t care if we build a park; it’s been great getting closer with my son and his friends. Of course, at this point, we’d really like to get the park done, but so much more has come out of it.
“It’s made the area very small; they’re on everyone’s radar. People have come out of the woodwork to help and this run is another example of that.”
And come Nov. 21, every stride Reynolds takes will get the goal of the Lunenburg Skatepark Project a bit closer to becoming a reality.