May 28, 2009
Running through the streets of downtown can be an eye-opening experience. There are sights, sounds, and smells that can only be appreciated as you navigate the narrow streets propelled by a pair of running shoes. Now you have the opportunity to do just that with hundreds of other runners.
By now we all have legitimate reason to feel jaded about the ongoing woes of our beloved downtown. It seems that at every turn there is another failed dream, and/or missed opportunity. However, there are many of us with connections to downtown that refuse to give up hope just yet, and see ample reason to celebrate what the future might bring.
Southern Arizona Roadrunners is a local non-profit that hopes to make a difference by inviting you to run through some of the coolest parts of our city. SAR is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to promoting health and fitness in Tucson and Southern Arizona through running and walking. Randy Accetta is the president, and he feels that exercise and organized running events have a role in creating a vibrant downtown community.
Aside from being the president of SAR, and the director of the downtown run, Randy also teaches in the McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship at the UA's Eller College of Management, so you can bet he might have more than a few ideas about how to re-invigorate the downtown economic scene.
Abdi Abdirahman came to the united states as a refugee from Somalia with his family in 1989, and settled here in Tucson where he continues to live and train. He recently ran the 10,000 meters in a personal best time of 27 minutes, 16.99 seconds, and is now well poised to make the Olympic team in the next few days.
Producer Luis Carrion brings us this story on the runner who likes to be known as the "Black Cactus."
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