Runners from the University of Akron men’s and women’s cross-country teams on Thursday celebrated this spring’s completion of the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail through Summit County by running all 41 miles.
The athletes, working in teams of three, took off from the Frazee House in Valley View shortly before 8 a.m. and concluded in the afternoon at the Stark County line at the Clinton Trailhead. Relay points along the way included exchanges in Sagamore Hills, Peninsula, Akron and New Franklin.
The popular trail was completed through Summit County in May, making Summit the first to finish the towpath. It will one day travel more than 100 miles from Lake Erie in Cuyahoga County to New Philadelphia in Tuscarawas County.