Details of the indoor winter running program for 2016-17 were revealed at the monthly meeting of the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority(MSFA) on Friday in the US Bank Stadium. As part of the MSFA commitment to hosting community legacy events, such as MSHSL tournament games, the indoor running and roller blade/inline skating programs that were hosted within the HHH Metrodome will continue in the new stadium.
As MSFA CEO/Executive Director Ted Mondale noted, these events were part of the deal worked out with the various partners in building the facility. MSFA Board Chairwoman, Michele Kelm-Helgen emphasized that to be able to have these events strategic planning, efficiency, and coupling of events was necessary.
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| MSFA 's Michele Kelm-Helgen(Left) and Rick Recker, USATF president(right) |
The planning started with the interior design of the stadium Kelm-Helgan said. Most sports stadiums do not have concourses that were allow a 360 degree lap circling the interior. Both the upper concourse and the main concourse in the US Bank Stadium were built that way to allow for the running program, which will use the upper concourse, and the inline skating on the main concourse. Meanwhile scheduling of other events at the stadium on the same day saves on staffing and other costs.
The running program is scheduled from 5 to 8 PM on 16 days, starting with December 13, 2016 and ending on March 13, 2017. These programs can grow, shrink, or be eliminated based on the response, how popular they are with, for example, the running community. Rick Recker will administer the running operation, as he did in the Metrodome. The cost for the runners is $3 per session. There is a limit on runners of 250 at at time, said Recker. Runners will have two "lanes" to circle in, one going clockwise, the other counter clockwise. A lap around inside the stadium measures 696 meters(726 meters in the "outside lane"), said Recker.
There is also a segment of the concourse where runners can get off the flats and go up and down an incline. Add some "hills" to their workout, Recker said. There is also a narrow segment of the lap, which dictates how many runners can run side-by-side during each lap.
The dates scheduled for this winter are listed below:
