SACRAMENTO-
Organizers of foot races that cross railroad tracks are facing increased scrutiny by Union Pacific.
Each of the past 10 years, organizers of the Kaiser Permanente Women’s Fitness Festival Run were able to deal directly with Union Pacific to have trains held when runners were crossing the tracks in Midtown Sacramento.
This year, for the first time ever, Union Pacific denied the request, forcing race organizers to change plans.
The June 7 event was going to feature a 5K and a half-marathon for 4,000 participants. Organizers decided there was no feasible way to route the half-marathon without runners crossing the tracks. So they canceled that part of the event. They are going forward with a modified version of the 5K that will avoid the tracks.
Union Pacific released the following statement:
“Union Pacific told Kaiser Permanente marathon organizers one year ago we would not stop trains for their 2015 event. We asked officials to reroute their race due to safety concerns for event participants. The change from 2014 to 2015 in Sacramento was driven by safety considerations. We manage events on a case-by-case basis. Decisions like this are made by Union Pacific team members from our safety, operating and customer-facing teams.”
The situation has some people wondering about December’s California International Marathon in which 14,000 participants cross the Union Pacific tracks en route from Folsom to the State Capitol.
On the marathon issue, the Union Pacific statement reads:
“We’re giving the California International Marathon request serious consideration and will respond as soon as we can.”
“We have no reason to expect that anything will be different than what we’ve had in the past, for the last 32 years,” said marathon organizer, Scott Abbott, executive director of the Sacramento Running Association.
Both the marathon and the rerouted Kaiser Women’s Fitness 5K are currently accepting online registration.
