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James River Park named Best Urban Park
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Richmond, Virginia's James River Park System, which is managed by the city's Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities, has been selected "Best Urban Park" by the readers of Blue Ridge Outdoors magazine.
The December issue of the publication features the 2004 Readers' Choice Awards in the categories of Athletes, Destinations, Happenings and a collective category of unique awards called Trail Mix.
In recognizing the James River Park, the magazine calls it "a treasure chest of natural beauty" and "a candy basket of outdoor recreation."
The 450-acre city-owned park spans the city along both banks of the James River from the Huguenot Woods at its western edge to Ancarrow's Landing at its eastern edge.
In addition to receiving the readers' award for Best Urban Park, the department's park naturalist, Ralph White, was named "Best Trail Guardian," and the XTERRA East Championship was chosen "Best Triathlon."
The XTERRA competition is held in the city's James River and Forest Hill parks. Forest Hill Park consists of 119 acres between 32nd and 41st streets just south of James River Park. It offers hilly wooded areas, a lake, and landscaped grassy knolls along with tennis courts, a tot lot and picnic shelters. The park, along with its old Stone House, was recently designated a state and national historic site.
The magazine refers to the XTERRA East competition as "one of the most revered" in the national series. Richmonder Becky Bashron, the 2004 women's champion, is quoted saying, "The best thing about the race is that the course has so many different types of terrain and obstacles to tackle all while the Richmond city skyline is in the distance. … It's … quite an accomplishment to finish."
Of White, the magazine says, "he's revamped Richmond's old persona as a tobacco town and put it on the outdoor map…." With approximately a quarter million readers, Blue Ridge Outdoors is distributed free at more than 1,000 locations between Atlanta and Washington, DC. Around Richmond you can find it at sporting good stores, coffee shops and grocery stores.
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