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When runners and walkers begin the News and Sentinel Half Marathon Saturday they will leave the Parkersburg network of streets, roads, and highway after just one mile. For the first time in the race's history, they will utilize the Parkersburg Ohio River Trail for a four-mile leg of the race.
Open since the fall of 2023, the trail was made possible through a set of city projects.
Parkersburg's Point Park has been a part of landscape since European settlers first arrived in the area in the 1700s. George Washington noted how flat and rich the area was when he passed in 1770. It first began a park in the 1920s. It was first called Point Park after improvements in 1982. In 2010 work was completed on a massive renovation that would add an amphitheater, restrooms, parking and the first section of the river trail that would head north but stop when it got to a small tributary called Pond Run. Since then, another project has added murals to the floodwall. The floodwall was constructed in 1950.
To make the pave path along the river useful for long distance racing, there had to be a way to get it over Pond Run. The 44-foot bridge was completed in 2023 at a cost of $1.5 million.
The bridge paved the way for the trail to be extended towards Vienna and a point near the Parkersburg City Limits.
Racers will travel down 12 Street from Juliana and enter the trail at one of three entry points. They will first travel towards Vienna before turning and running back towards Point Park. Racers will always have the Ohio River on one side and the flood wall, or earthen levee on the other.
For four miles they can enjoy the cool breeze off the river. If lucky, they may be able to view the foxes, rabbits, ground hogs, deer and bald eagles that are common in the area. They will pass under three large bridges that span the Ohio River, including the Memorial Bridge, the Sixth Street Rail Bridge and the Parkersburg-Belpre bridge as they make their way to Point Park.
The park is hosting the Parkersburg Homecoming Saturday, so there will be plenty of action for the racers as they approach the end of mile 5 of the race. The racers, like George Washington, will likely find the area flat. As soon as they exit the park, they will start the climb up to Fort Boreman, a climb that Washington never tackled. Then again, he didn't have a group of volunteers waiting for him every few miles with water and Gatorade.
You can sign up for the Half Marathon or Two-Mile Race at www.newsandsentinelhalfmarathon.com
Art Smith is online manager of The Marietta Times and the Parkersburg News and Sentinel. He is also co-director of the News and Sentinel Half Marathon. He can be reached at asmith@newsandsentinel.com.