Another great event sucumbs to the virus :-
https://www.amblesideac.org.uk/2020/...020-cancelled/
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Another great event sucumbs to the virus :-
https://www.amblesideac.org.uk/2020/...020-cancelled/
Hoping that the rearranged Teenager With Altittude, and Coledale Horseshoe will survive, and maybe get to one of them.
And now the rescheduled Coledale is also cancelled.
fingers crossed for Teenager then!
I see that Parkruns are looking to return by end of October in England... surely this must assist in paving the way for races to start returning to something approaching normality...
I see from the email that we are going to be refunded - I'd have been happy just to have it carried over again but in the circumstances I suppose they can't do that indefinitely.
A different system I know but I like the way some organisers with sportident have managed this situation - option of a refund or defer for next time. A triathlon up where I stay organised by the local leisure centre also asked people to consider donating their entry fee (they operate as a local charity) which apart from being a nice thing to do means they are more likely to still be operating and able to stage the event next year. (26th September, let's hope by then we are back to something more normal).
Yes. How much do runners really care about the survival of events?
Twenty years ago when I was concerned about declining numbers in long "A" races like Ennerdale I had a conversation with Richard Eastman and he told me in some years he personally subsidized his race (Wasdale) but that as long as some people wanted to run it he would put it on. That conversation was part of the inspiration to establish the Lakeland Classics Trophy (with Brian Martin).
Bolton by Bowland
On the other hand when the RO - a villager - moved away from B x B this race collapsed after 2011, when there were 160 runners.This was slightly odd because it was a village "event", lots of cakes were sold by the ladies of the village,the past winners are displayed on a board in the village hall, locals would donate prizes (including Denise Park when she lived there) - but nobody would take over co-ordination.
I accept that - it was just having a huge Honour Board in the village hall...which was still there last time I went in.
And who'd be a RO? I still recall the phone call from the uphill only finish on top of Grisedale Pike telling me Alistair Brownlee and chum had missed the finish and were last seen racing through the clag towards the Irish Sea and so it was time for me as RO to call out the MRT.:confused:
We owe you both our thanks for that Graham. I was one of the very few pre-entries for Ennerdale the year it was cancelled for lack of support - even after Joss gave us all a stern talking to at the Dunnerdale start telling us to get our entries in or it might not go ahead. A far cry from some of today's oversubscribed races.
It's probably the easiest in that its all outdoors, no village halls or checkpoints required and all results are automatically logged for you. And its only 5K and over really quickly. A lot of fell races though have kit requirements, very rural and localised venues and often need a (crammed) hall at the start and finish, manned checkpoints and whatnot. I think small fell races ought to be possible though.
Lakes in a Day (a 50 mile ultra that is effectively a 30 mile fell race which then evolves into a trail race for the last 20 miles) which runs normally in October had been holding out to go ahead but cancelled just last week. Their problem wasn't so much the running part of even the land that it crossed but was all about the use of a school at the finish, which clearly didn't make sense, and the inability to find or even want to ask, in the circumstances, about an alternative
The Parkruns that I have done the results are not automatically logged. Runners are handed a disc as they finish and then have to hand in their disc whilst having their barcode scanned.
They may be outdoors, but regularly over 300 people running on an out and back course that is about 9 feet wide is not going to happen any time soon.
Sadly you’re right Llani
Apparently when Parkrun was starting up they were given the technological option of people just crossing the finishing line to get a result, but they decided to go for the need-to-queue option as part of the experience. Understandable then - chatting in the queue is/was fun.
Presumably though they could relatively easily adapt the system if every runner is already bar coded? I'm speaking from ignorance here as the thought of semi-sprinting 5K actually horrifies me and I've never actually run a park run. For sure my wife's sister, a regular at park running, has commenced her training again based Park Run Uk's announcement on Monday https://www.parkrun.org.uk/cliffecas...7th-september/
Crossing all my bits for Teenager. Luckily it was the only race I’d entered.
Unluckily, my plans were to do a race near the start of the year, one at the end, and train in the middle. Covid chaos means that actually, I’ve done half the training I’d planned, and both races are within 7 days of each other!
The statement from English Athletics this morning is encouraging... for those that haven't seen it, it basically implies that athletic competition and training can carry on as they were.
Obviously, things can change very quickly, and we all know fellracing comes with a whole different set of circumstances re landowners etc... but it is encouraging.
On the back of that, i've had a rush of blood and entered a Track Mile race for mid-October!
Unfortunately the OMM's been cancelled too. :(
I had high hopes that due to the individual start times and wide distancing on the hill it would be OK.
From the organiser:
"...in Scotland, one of the measures has been to require larger sporting events to be registered with Scottish Athletics for professional risk assessment. OMM did this and was quickly recognised as an event where, due to the nature of the course and landscape, social distancing is inherently adhered to, as long as it could implement some changes to its staging areas (HQ, Start, Finish, overnight etc).
These plans were made and submitted and we received approval by Scottish Athletics and Environmental Health Argyle and Bute.
This week they have been officially revoked by the political body that Scottish Athletics report to. Mark Munro, CEO- Scottish Athletics, comments, ‘There is generally a real concern about the virus spread at Holyrood, anything that looks slightly risky in their minds is being postponed.’ "
The OMM are really good though - a choice of a full refund, transfer to next year or OMM kit to the value of 125% of the entry fee.
Does anybody know if the Wansfell uphill only scheduled for 16th October is going ahead? I've tried emailing the organiser but haven't had a reply so far. It's still open for entries on SI and I hoped it might go ahead as it's time trial format.
..
Mark I thought I read that it had been cancelled but I can't recall where, so don't take it as definite.
I know that TWA/Anni Waltz are off...
Edit: re the Wansfell race, the race website states that it's off for 2020 and planned for 2021.
The last Kong MM has been pulled due to landowner issues, and the OMM is gone. Can’t even car share to the lakes to do the Saunders maprun mm!
Thanks Travs. There was a series of youth races planned for earlier in the summer and the website for them does say they are postponed until next year - but this race isn't mentioned on the site (as far as I can see) and is still open for entries on SI - so I hoped it would possibly still be on. But I suspect that you are right.
As far as I can tell the events postponed until 2021 were scheduled for July this year. They included this race and Loughrigg Silver Howe. I'm not sure if the October race is one of the July ones originally rescheduled to October or if the October race stood alone in its own right (albeit under the same organisiers). SI are usually pretty good about taking down anything that's cancelled but it's still open for entries today. It's maybe all academic anyway in light of possible new restrictions.
Ras Y Berwyn in November has been postponed until next year.
But in a rare bit of good news the Wansfell Uphill only is going ahead. Link to SI entries on my earlier post. Sincere thanks to Duncan for making the effort to navigate the restrictions and making it possible.
That is good news and I might fancy that myself if I can organise a weekend up there..
Wow - entries spread over 2 hours if 240 runners. Will it survive the new measures - England Athletics yet to clarify.
"Entries - This is an online entry only event with a maximun of 240 competitors (ie No entries on the day). Upon entering each athlete will choose a start time by the minute between 18:00 and 20:00 (so 120 options). Athletes will be started at 30 second intervals."
Another disapointment for a lot of folk next year :-
https://www.grough.co.uk/magazine/20...orkshire-dales
Doesn't bode well - have entries in a couple of LDWA events in the lakes postponed until about the same time, hope they are still on.
Same here but I am resigned to the likelihood that the events I have entries for next year will be cancelled but hey the hills,passes and fells will still be there to play on and I have had plenty of time poring over maps and planing ;).
Just a case of plan for the worst hope for the best
To be fair the fellsman especially, in its current format, isn't geared up for covid and I think them not being able to cover the cost of a late cancellation probably played a big part in their decision. Also the transportation logistics of an event that can take anything between 10 and 30 hours to complete and starts and finishes in different places
I reckon they might've adapted things though. For example were the fellsman to switch its start to really late in the day, rather than first thing, (11 pm or midnight Friday for instance, a bit like the HPM) it would be able to avoid most of the over night stayers (at Threshfield or Ingleton) and for many competitors compulsory grouping could be avoided (first night grouping could easily be dismissed with in these circumstances). Many more runners could then have arranged for daylight pick up in Threshfield at the finish, with perhaps some socially distanced coaches running at regular intervals back to Ingleton for those that couldn't. The overnight grouping thing is nowadays looking really dated so it could perhaps have been knocked on the head completely or done subject to tight rules only for second night over nighters?
Whilst it is far from me to question a race organisation with as much experience as the Fellsman, the night grouping thing is probably the main thing which puts me off from entering. Same with the Long Mynd Hike.
I put my entry in a couple of weeks ago for Marsden-Edale Trigger. Awaiting to see if/when the lockdown rules are relaxed, and hopefully there's a reasonable chance of it going ahead in early Jan (but i'm not exactly holding my breath).
Also a race in Wales entered in mid/late Dec which i have a little more confidence will be able to go ahead.
A notice from the RO on facebook indicates that Jura is all but off for 2021... possibility of some form of event if there is a vaccine and the hotel campsite was to be open... but otherwise there'll be no race at all...
I've had a message via sportident about one of these (Spring into Lakeland, a different event to normal from Staveley this year). It's still hoped that it will go ahead, but:- New rules imposed by their insurers state that only LDWA members can take part, they need to reduce the numbers to 150 (from Nealy 300 most of whom have an entry carried over) and there will be little to no support at checkpoints/feed points etc. I'm not at all bothered about the last point and they have given us the option of joining LDWA to keep an entry - but if we all do that 150 of us are still going to be weeded out somehow or other. I'm not very enthusiastic about joining for a couple of events that might not go ahead and for at least one of which I could be balloted out of or deselected. Not entirely sure what I'm going to do yet.
Still hopeful this might go ahead in some form. I have spent the previous 17 years in a quest to run 21 consecutive Juras. Due to work it was difficult to get time off at weekends for many years and I didn't start Jura until comparatively late in my running career. It's now a battle of age versus cut off times, so I am training as if it's on,just in case. I'm in exactly the same position with Ben Nevis. I know I've been lucky to get entries each year and I appreciate that. But the 'chain' I've spent years building is now irredeemably broken through nobody's fault.
A couple of xmas/new year races off...
Devil's Chair Dash - Boxing Day - Shropshire
Tour Of Llyn Lydaw - New Years Day - Snowdonia