The Town Center Community announced that registration is open for the 2024 Noonday Shanty 5K & 10K race on the Noonday Creek Trail, to take place Saturday, March 23.  You can register by visiting https://www.towncentercid.com/noonday-shanty.

The race is a popular annual highlight of the activities organized by the Town Center Community, and is a Peachtree Road Race Official Qualifying Event.

It is a USA Track and Field-certified race managed by Start2Finish, (formerly Orion Racing).

According to the registration page, “This event features two USA Track & Field certified race lengths and a paved course on the trail and roadway. Runners, walkers, and families are all encouraged to participate.”

​

“Participants will experience scenic views, greenspaces, and attractions along Noonday Creek Trail and Town Center such as Noonday Creek, Aviation Park, Cobb International Airport, Fifth Third Bank Stadium, and wetlands and bird habitats including the Chimney Swift Tower,” the page continues.

“This is my favorite event because it offers the opportunity for us to engage and invest in our community,” said Jennifer Hogan, director of community at Town Center Community. “The event energy and support is amazing, and the proceeds from the race are reinvested right back into the community in the form of greenspace and trail projects in Town Center.”

In addition to the race, for the artistic among you there will be a contest to create a poster for the event.

According to the press release for the event:

Town Center Community initiated a call for artists to submit designs, digital or hand-drawn, for the Noonday Shanty 5K & 10K poster offering a cash prize for first and second-place winners. The first-place design will be the official event poster and will be given away at packet pick-up and featured in various promotional materials for the race. The deadline for submissions is February 12, 2024. Contest details are available at https://www.towncentercid.com/event-details-registration/poster-design-contest.

About Noonday Creek Trail

The Town Center Community describes the Noonday Creek Trail as follows:

The Noonday Creek Trail was envisioned in 2000 by the Town Center Community Improvement District (CID) as a way to repurpose underused greenspace and provide alternative modes of transportation and recreation to reduce carbon emissions. The 10- to 12-foot-wide paved trail was completed in 2014 and spans seven miles connecting the Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park’s visitors center to the Bells Ferry Trailhead through the heart of Town Center. The trail winds along Noonday Creek through forested areas, under highway overpasses and along roadsides to provide an integral connection in Cobb County’s network of trails. Today, nearly 13,000 visitors use Noonday Creek Trail each month and it features the first bikeshare program by a community improvement district in the state.

About the Town Center Community Improvement District

The Town Center Community Improvement District is a self-taxing district that had over 275 commercial property owners as of its 2020 annual report. TCCID is the second-largest CID in Cobb, after the Cumberland Community Improvement District.

The district is centered around the Town Center at Cobb shopping mall, and includes Kennesaw State University and its surrounding area.

Its projects include the multi-phase South Barrett Reliever, and corridor studies for Chastain Road and Bells Ferry Road.

Town Center Community Improvement District recently celebrated its 25th year birthday. 

The “placemaking” partner of the TCCID is the Town Center Community Alliance, a 501(c)(3) and together the two organizations form the Town Center Community.