Trail race pays city, charity
Mike Rush of Rush Running presented two $7,000 checks Dec. 13 to give the proceeds of this month’s trail run and ride to the Back 40 trails and Drive with Care.
Drive with Care is a charity group focused on providing education and awareness for cyclists, pedestrians and motorists to make the area safer for everyone to get around. Kelly Sikorski, president and founding member of the organization, said she appreciated the help.
There’s a strong, physically-active community in the area, she said, and that means there are a lot of different kinds of road and trail users in the area. Making these groups function together safely, she said, takes cooperation from everyone involved.
“We’re just very grateful to Mike [Rush] and James [Reeves, with Rush Running] for dedicating the proceeds from this event,” she said.
Rush said he’s a proponent of the charity group. A friend of his, he said, was recently hit by a car during a bike ride while crossing a street in Fayetteville and has been left with multiple broken bones after someone failed to look before turning.
“We’re trying to stop that, get cars to slow … down or at least pay attention,” he said.
Mayor Peter Christie — the coolest mayor, Rush said — was enthusiastic as he posed with the giant check.
The $7,000 given to the city, he said, has been earmarked to handle water bills for the new fountains at the trailheads. Those fountains are currently winterized, he said, but should be a very welcome addition when summer returns in 2018.
Before the event, there was a discussion of using the funds to build a bathroom facility, Christie said. He said the lowest estimate he was able to find was roughly $44,000 — so the money has been set up for water instead.
“It’s a very generous donation,” Christie added.