GLOCESTER – Since 2003, Ponaganset’s Covered Bridge Trail has served as home of the Rhode Island Interscholastic League’s annual cross country championship, leading the top runners from across the state on a course through Glocester’s scenic woodlands.
Located just behind Ponaganset High School, the trail begins and ends on athletic fields, while 18-foot-wide wooded sections take visitors on a stone dust covered loop that features three bridges including, of course, the one that gives it its name.
But in 2026, for the first time in 23 years, the school will not host the state championship – and is also unlikely to be the venue of choice for the New England Championship.
That, said Ponaganset Athletic Director Mike Joyce, is due to a shortage this year of both funding and volunteer work.
Joyce noted that in past years dedicated volunteers donated materials and put in countless hours to prepare and maintain the trail, as well as organize the event.
“The people who have provided the time, energy and resources in the past sent a letter to the league saying they couldn’t this year,” Joyce told NRI NOW.
The news comes as the Ponaganset athletic program also prepares for a financial hit: a planned budget decrease of $38,000 for the 2026/2027 school year. Joyce estimated the cost to bringing in gravel, groom the trail and handle other logistics at between $5,000 and $11,000.
“We just don’t know how feasible it would be to run the event,” Joyce said.
The athletic director noted that he expressed his concerns about preparations to RIIL leadership, and the plan to move the event was ultimately a league decision.
“As an athletic director, I want to have that event,” he said. “This was a decision made by the league.”
The change may come as a disappointment to many young athletes. Ponaganset’s iconic 5K course features a mix of terrain, with the scenic bridges carrying runners over small, seasonal streams. It is also considered an excellent venue for spectators, who can view roughly two thirds of the course, including the finish line.
“When we heard the news last week we just didn’t believe it,” noted athletics publication Ocean State Running in a post on the change. “How can the State Cross Country Championships be anywhere but Ponaganset?”
But from the hundreds of man hours required to keep the notoriously well-groomed trail free of mud, rocks and roots, to the thousands it costs to prepare and organize the event itself, Joyce noted the decision about the state championship seems unlikely to change, and that RIIL is now pursuing other options. That means the New England Championships, which also have taken place at the Anan Wade school many times in the past, are also likely to go elsewhere in 2026.
“They run hand in hand,” Joyce said of the state and regional events. “We’ve hosted it on numerous occasions in the past.”
Joyce said there is no official news from RIIL yet regarding a new venue for the 2026 Rhode Island championship cross county race.
