A $10,000 grant will enable Friends of the Little Miami State Park to further our program of trail maintenance and safety. Organizers of Loveland’s Amazing Race, an annual charitable “fun” race based in Miami Township, will present the award to FLMSP on August 27th, 6:30 pm, at Bob Roncker’s Running Spot in Loveland.

Loveland’s Amazing Race (historicloveland.com/lovelandsamazingrace.html), which took place June 16, is billed as a “full day of good natured competition, music, fun and laughs.” The competition progresses through Loveland and challenges participants in tests of balance, strength and problem solving skills. FLMSP participated in the race by managing the food pavilion with ten volunteers.

Besides sponsoring an entertaining day for the community, Loveland’s Amazing Race donated to selected charities. Since the 2006 race, they have donated over $300,000. Other recipients this year in addition to FLMSP were In Return (http://www.inreturn.org/history.html), Buckeye Search and Rescue (www.buckeyesardogs.org/) and Ohio Valley Voices (http://ohiovalleyvoices.org/).

FLMSP will spend most of the grant, about $7,000, on a single-pass blower. The new tool will efficiently clear the 50 miles of the Little Miami State Park trail from Avoca Park near Milford, through Loveland, to Hedges Road south of Xenia. Clearing the trail creates a safer environment for trail users, especially bikers when the trail is wet. The FLMSP board will decide how to spend the remainder of the grant in the near future.

The grant comes at a good time for FLMSP, as severe weather events have increasingly taxed our resources. After the June 29 storm, FLMSP mobilized its trail adopters to clear the trail. By the end of their first day of operation, adopters had opened all but eight of 20 blocked sections. By leveraging the grant from Loveland’s Amazing Race, FLMSP will be able to respond even more efficiently to emergency events.

The date for the next Loveland’s Amazing Race is June 15th, 2013. Details and registration can be found at www.LovelandsAmazingRace.com. Registration has already opened. If you want to join, register soon because the event has historically sold out quickly.