For the Cumberland Times-News
CUMBERLAND — The 28th annual Great Allegany Run will be held Saturday and some traffic patterns will be changed that morning.
The GAR consists of four events — a 15K foot race from Mount Savage to downtown Cumberland, a 5K race and 2-Mile Walk on the Great Allegheny Passage and a Kids Run on South Centre Street.
The 15K will begin near the Masonic Building in Mount Savage at 8 a.m. and will proceed to downtown Cumberland along the bike path beside state Route 36, to U.S. Route 40 through the Narrows, and onto Mechanic Street, Queen City Drive, Harrison Street and finish near the downtown mall on South Centre Street.
There will be traffic delays on Route 36 at the start of the race. The westbound lane of U.S. 40 through the Narrows will be closed for about one hour beginning at 8:15 a.m. During the race, parking will be prohibited on the portions of Mechanic Street and South Centre Street used for the race. South Centre Street will be closed to vehicular traffic between Harrison Street and Frederick Street from 7:45 to 9:45 a.m. Police officers and volunteers will direct traffic at many of the intersections along the race route.
The out‑and‑back 5K will begin at 8 a.m. in downtown Cumberland and will include portions of South Centre Street, Frederick Street, the Queen City Drive shopping center parking lot, South George Street and the end portion of the 15K course. The 2-mile walk will also begin at 8 a.m. in downtown Cumberland, just after the 5K runners take off, and is on the Great Allegheny Passage, with a finish at the same point as the 5K and 15K races.
Race director Dave Treber is expecting about 250 runners and walkers. He asks the community to take a few minutes to watch part of the race and lend encouragement to the runners as they pass.
The GAR is a nonprofit charity event. Sponsoring businesses in the area have paid a portion of the expenses of staging the run and proceeds will be donated for social service programs of the YMCA. The GAR is organized by the Queen City Striders, a local running club. Questions can be directed to Treber at (301) 687-0644.
