The political practice of gerrymandering isn’t easy to explain. Attempts often include confusing maps and eye-roll-inducing descriptions of efforts to draw district lines that guarantee one party’s ability to maintain—or win—seats in Congress. But it’s important to how Americans vote. So to show gerrymandering’s effects, one runner decided to illustrate the issue in the run-loving town of Asheville, North Carolina—with a racecourse.

A few years ago, artist and documentarian John Kennedy, his wife Cinnamon, and their three kids (one in a stroller) decided to participate in a 5K every weekend for an entire summer. Kennedy, who also finished both the Mount Mitchell 40-Miler and the Black Mountain Marathon, always saw Asheville’s running scene as a way to bring people together. But the area’s political environment was pushing people apart.

After North Carolina passed its controversial so-called “bathroom bill” last year, “I saw how district borders were affecting our ability to make laws,” Kennedy said. “I was so mad that I couldn’t even find out who my representative was to write to them.”

At first, he thought to take chalk and color the District 10 and 11 lines where he lives to make the often absurd realities of these puzzle piece-like borders more obvious to his neighbors. But then Cinnamon suggested a different approach.

“My wife said, ‘People in this community love 5Ks…Why not make the district line a racecourse and have people out there on it so they can see and experience the problem?’” Kennedy explained. “I thought that was brilliant.”

Kennedy partnered with the League of Women Voters of Asheville-Buncombe County to sponsor this year’s race.

The 5K course, said Alana Pierce, president of the League’s Asheville office, creates “a visceral experience of how gerrymandering divides our communities and doesn't make sense. Why include this house but not another?” According to Pierce, it's hard enough for voters to know who their representatives are—so a 5K that follows district lines makes for an “on-the-ground” demonstration that details how the practice makes democracy difficult.

John Blexrud, the president of the Asheville Track Club, says that even though there are two other races taking place in the area that same day, they won’t be competing with the turnout of those participating in the Gerrymander 5K—just like any race for a cause. “Races like this are created for the people who have been affected by a problem," Blexrud said. "Whether it’s a health problem or a political problem—and want to call attention to it."

Blexrud said he’s sure that more than a few of his club's 300 members will run the event on Saturday, November 4. Kennedy is confident in the turn out as well.

“The running community is a very active and aware community,” he said. “It would make sense that runners want to run this route and draw attention to these issues. I hope this leads…to getting people out there walking and running their congressional borders and making politicians see that this isn’t right. That’s what can create change.”

All proceeds from the $20 race entries will go toward preparation for another 5K to take place next fall before the 2018 elections—as well as funding local and state leagues to continue educating people about the issue.

Kennedy will be handing out sidewalk chalk at the starting line so participants can draw the district border as they run, and then he'll run it with his family—just like he did a few summers back. He's also encouraging folks to come dressed in Halloween costumes—especially Wonder Woman: “How cool would it be to have a bunch of Wonder Women out there on the race course demonstrating that gerrymandering isn’t cool? That’s how we strengthen a weak democratic process.”

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