Running through history

Whether you’re a runner, a walker or a history buff, you’ll likely find an event designed just for you when the inaugural Forty Fort Cemetery run/walk takes place Saturday, Sept. 14.

Runners have a choice of a 5K or 10K race and walkers are invited to take part in a 1.5 mile trek that follows part of the same route along River Street and the levee system.

Meanwhile, throughout the morning, local historians Bill Lewis, Tony Brooks, Amy Ellsworth and Andy Tuzinski will lead walking tours to explain some of the historical significance of the cemetery (while historian Nancy Lychos will guide people through the nearby Forty Fort Meeting House.)

As you might expect, the history tours will proceed more slowly than the racing events.

But if you want to take a history tour after your race, organizer Bob Bilbow says, “We will definitely make that available.”

“It’s amazing when you see some of the dates (on the tombstones) and how old some of the burials are there,” Bilbow said, noting he frequently runs along the levee near the cemetery, or takes walks with his wife through the historic graveyard. “There’s always a lot of people walking there.”

The races start at 9 a.m. Sept. 14 and will begin and end in the cemetery. A food truck will be onsite in the morning with coffee and light refreshments. The Old Fort Brewing Co., 161 Welles St., will host a post-race event with refreshments and presentation of medals at noon.

Proceeds benefit the historic Forty Fort Cemetery Association, a not-for-profit, all-volunteer organization that cares for the cemetery and the meeting house.

Notable people interred in the cemetery, according to a news release, include Wyoming Valley pioneers Luke Swetland and Nathan and Hannah Denison; Henry Martyn Hoyt, Sr., a Kingston native who served as a Union general during the Civil War and then governor of Pennsylvania; poet and novelist Elinor Morton Wylie; and Rev. George Peck, credited with convincing area farmers and businessmen with starting what became Wyoming Seminary College Preparatory School.

The Meeting House was the first completed church in which religious services were held in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Additionally, this is the third oldest intact structure in the Wyoming Valley. It was built between 1806-08 in a New England meeting house style with white clapboard siding and has remained virtually unchanged since 1807.

To sign up for the race, check out the event calendar at neparunner.com/.