WHERE
Races start at the historic WGWL Welcome Center, located at the trailhead in Riceville, IA.
Riceville, IA
Description
Just Plain Fun
Distance - 5K & 25-35 mile Ride
You are invited on November 10th, 2007,
to run, walk, and bike the Wapsi-Great Western Line (WGWL) Trail.
Experience
The Gateway to Iowa
The Gateway to Minnesota
WGWL – The Interstate Trail Connector – Invites you to Join the Movement.
Ribbon Cutting 10:00 am
Border Bike 10:30 am
5K Run/Walk 11:00 pm
Fall Foods 10:30 am - 1:30 pm
"Walking Jim Stoltz" Concert 2:00 pm
MARK YOUR CALENDARS
OFFICIAL WGWL DEDICATION IS MAY 31, 2008, with expanded celebration and events.
Registration available January 1, 2008.
Visit www.wgwltrail.com for November 10th race registration.
ABOUT WGWL
The Wapsi-Great Western Line Trail was founded in 1990.
The WGWL Trailhead is located in Riceville, Iowa, a small rural community thriving in northeastern Iowa.
WGWL was completed to the Minnesota Border in 1999.
The 18 mile stretch passes lakes, prairie, farmland and marshland.
Five of the 18 miles were paved in Fall 2007 and are being opened on the 10 th.
The remaining 13 miles, which are currently lime screened, will be paved in the near future in accordance with an awarded $2.3 million federal grant.
Future connections are being made to the south with hopes of joining trails to connect with Elma and on to Cedar Falls , Dubuque and Davenport.
Future Connections are being made to the north with hopes of joining trails to connect with Leroy and on to Rochester and Austin.
Join the Movement
Wapsi-Great Western Line Trail – The Interstate Connector
Visit www.wgwltrail.com
ABOUT WALKIN' JIM
"Somehow he's part of the soul of America ."
-- Jan Jeffries, Oakland Press
Jim Stoltz, known far and wide as Walkin' Jim, sings his songs with a definite sense of having been there. Indeed, he has. It all began innocently enough, walking the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine . That was in 1974. After a year and a half spent walking from the Atlantic to the Pacific, folks just naturally started referring to him as "Walkin' Jim." What followed was a trek from Mexico to Canada along the Continental Divide Trail, four years of hiking his own border to border trail through Arizona, Utah , Idaho , and Montana, and yearly long walks across the remaining wildlands of America . Although his miles now total more than 26,000, it all adds up to much more than miles. It's years of experiences, stories and songs.
"Jim Stoltz is a music man of exuberance and passion, with more to say in one song than Frank Sinatra ever managed in a whole bloody concert."
-- Edward Abbey
Jim's relationship with the Earth has given him a deep commitment to preserve the wilderness, protect the planet's creatures, and fight for the right to a clean and healthy environment. Jim's return to the Wapsi-Great Western Line's Welcome Center is in honor of WGWL's reopening following a paving project which will be ongoing to the Minnesota border. He is literally walking from Virginia to Iowa for this event.
"Mr. Stoltz … sings in a deep bass that sounds like a distant rapid in a canyon stream. His songs are paeans to nature …
-- Kenneth H. Bacon
The Wall Street Journal
Route
Border Bike Route (25-35 miles)
Start: 110 East Main, Riceville, IA 50466
Welcome Center – WGWL Trailhead
Route proceeds along WGWL through Lake Hendricks, to the Boardwalk, through Amish country and Pinicon Alders (320 acre timberland) to the Minnesota border and back.
Finish: WGWL Trailhead
5K Race Route
Start: 110 East Main, Riceville, IA 50466
Welcome Center – WGWL Trailhead
Route proceeds along WGWL through Lake Hendricks lower level looping back via Lake Hendricks upper level.
Finish: WGWL Trailhead