A romp in the park

Run for the Brass first sporting event in new Millenium Park

By JILL ERWIN

Staff Writer

The opinions were all around. From the starting line to the finish line, runners critiqued the new course for the 2000 Run for the Brass 5K.

And Millennium Park drew rave reviews.

"It's looking great," Daniel Morgan said. "It gets my seal of approval."

Morgan, a sophomore-to-be at Boyle County High School, won the 3.1-mile race, the first sporting event held at the park, in 17 minutes, 20 seconds.

He said the course was a vast improvement over running through downtown Danville, where certain concessions had to be made.

"There aren't any angry policemen here," Morgan said, referring to the cops who had to block off traffic for the use of Danville's roadways.

Another satisfied customer was Kyle Poland of Danville. Poland also appreciated not making the men in blue work quite so early.

"It's nice to have it in the park," Poland said. "It's closed in, and you don't have to have the police all around."

While construction in the park required changes to what will by next year be the normal course, runners did get to see a nice chunk of the park and were impressed by what they saw.

"It's wonderful," former Danville cross country coach Rick Serres said. "I like to run through the towns and see all the buildings. But it's a lot better to run past a lake and through trees."

Current Boyle cross country coach Doug Sharp couldn't agree more. In fact, the team is working on plans to hold the 2001 Boyle cross country invitational at the park.

"It's great," he said. "It's much more accessible, and there's no traffic impact here like there was downtown. It's just something that everyone can enjoy."

Morgan enjoyed the atmosphere, and a good run as well. But he had previous knowledge of the course.

As soon as the land was zoned for a park, Morgan began running on it. He knew the nuances, the turns, the hills. He was able to pace himself, and still enjoy the views the run afforded.

"The city and county spent all this money building it, so it's good to finally use it for something," Morgan said. "It's going to be really nice when it gets done. It was a good idea for them to go ahead and build the path now."

One thing Serres appreciated was the planning involved in changing the course around. He helped out with the planning, and said the rearrangement involved sending the course up Gateway Drive before hooking back to the gravel trails.

"The beginning of the race, with the maximum grouping of people from the starting line, was on a wider section of road," Serres said. "By the time they got back to the trail, they were spread out enough to where it wouldn't inhibit passing.

Poland's ringing endorsement began with the race, but quickly spread to everything else the park will have to offer.

"I'm real excited, and I think it's neat," Poland said. "With the baseball, softball, soccer and everything else, there's something for everyone. Having a multi-sport park is good."