Chamber Celebrates Another Successful Year Of Outdoor Events 450 Participants From 19 States, 4 Countries   Covington, VA (Aug. 30, 2019) - The Alleghany Highlands Chamber of Commerce and Tourism hosted three major outdoor events – The Jackson River Scenic Trail Marathon, Half Marathon, 10K & 5K, The Gran Fondo Alleghany & the Lake Moomaw One Mile Swim this summer. These events welcomed approximately 450 participants who visited the Alleghany Highlands from upwards of 19 states and 4 countries.      The Jackson River Scenic Trail Marathon in its 7th year, took place on June 22 and hosted 287 participants from 19 states and 4 countries. This event is a Boston Marathon qualifying event and regularly sees participants from all over the country. The 10th annual Gran Fondo Alleghany was held on July 20 and hosted 102 participants from 10 states. This event has been dubbed “Agony in the Alleghanies” due to the extreme elevation changes with beautiful mountain vistas. Lastly, the Lake Moomaw One Mile Swim, in its 7th year, was held on August 3 at Cole’s Point Beach at Lake Moomaw and hosted 57 participants from three different states. The Chamber wants to thank all of the volunteers and sponsors for supporting the 2019 outdoor event series. “Community support plays such a vital role in the success of the outdoors events and the positive impression of our region that participants get each time they come to the Alleghany Highlands” said Outdoor Events Director Josh Taylor. Over 150 local residents volunteered their time to help out at water stations, road marshal areas and numerous other areas and without that level of volunteer support, these events simply would not be feasible. The chamber has also been incredibly fortunate with financial sponsors in 2019 receiving support from 19 different local businesses up from 11 in 2018 and 6 in 2017. Those sponsors are as follows: Alcova Mortgage, Balchem, Chemcore Industries, Inc., Cucci’s Pizzeria, Hammond Mitchell, Inc., Highlands Community Bank, Ingevity, Jack Mason’s Tavern & Brewery, Jackson River Community Credit Union, LewisGale Hospital – Alleghany, Leisure Media 360, Lumos Networks, Roanoke Outside, The Rail Bar & Grille, Virginia Community Capital, Walmart, Williams Fabrication/Jenfab and WestRock. Also, a big thank you to Alleghany County Parks & Recreation for keeping the Jackson River Scenic Trail in immaculate condition, Williams Fabrication/Jenfab for donating overall winner trophies and all local EMS and Police for ensuring the safety of the participants at each event. “We are pleased that the support of the outdoor events continues to grow each year from both a community and participant standpoint and we look forward to continuing that momentum into next year. These events have a very positive economic impact to our community as it brings visitors to the area that shop in our stores, stay in our various lodging options and eat in our restaurants.” said Teresa Hammond, Executive Director for the Chamber. For more information on each outdoor event, please visit these websites: jacksonrivermarathon.com, granfondoalleghany.com and lakemoomawswim.com.

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