Mud always wins
I think I've said something like this before - back in 2016 when the Rattler Trail Race was canceled morning of the race due to weather. As runners, there are things we can control (our training, the gear we have with us during a race, and so on) and then there are the things we can't control (course conditions and weather primarily.) While we need to be aware of the uncontrollables, we can't worry about them. To a point. I've been watching the weather all week - from gorgeous and sunny on Monday to a day of grey and drizzle on Tuesday, mixed rain and sun on Wednesday and more rain Thursday. That was in Colorado Springs - up north the snow started Wednesday and was intermittent through out the last few days. When I saw the Thursday's post on Facebook from Jeff-Co Open Space that White Ranch was closed, my heart took a dive. Why? Because Tommyknocker is held at White Ranch. If Jeff-Co was closing the park Thursday morning to prevent trail damage due to the wet conditions, what were the chances of holding the race? Especially with more rain and snow in the forecast all day Thursday. Jeff-Co is the ultimate permitting authority - if they say the park is closed, it doesn't matter how much we want to run. The race is off.
This has to be a race director's nightmare. Looking at the forecast for today and Saturday, there's a chance the trails might be just fine. Hero Dirt in mountain biking parlance. But there's also the chance that weather doesn't clear up and Jeff-Co doesn't re-open the trails. It doesn't matter what John does - it's dammed if you do, dammed if you don't. Cancel the race early since the trails are closed and it doesn't look likely to re-open and people will get mad. Especially if the sun comes out and starts melting and drying things out like the current forecast indicates might happen. Then it feels like the cancellation was premature - had we just waited another day, we would have been able to run! I know that thought is rumbling around the heads of many people - myself included. But if you do wait that extra day and still have to cancel, it's a whole different hub-bub. Now people are having to scramble with travel plans, canceling hotels and such. Then the complaints become "why didn't you cancel sooner?" And then there's the true last minute - the morning of the race once it becomes clear there's no way to hold the race. While that might give us the best chance of running, it's gotta be the hardest to deal with because once runners have driven to a race venue, they want to run.
There's a lot of work and planning that goes into holding a race - and most of that work is done well before the event. While it might be something the runners want, it's nearly impossible to refund entries. After all, the money for shirts, awards, permitting - it's all been spent on the necessary costs that races entails. The race director can't simply send the shirts back and say "sorry - don't need these!" Just like the race director, we runners have to eat the costs of the canceled race. That's hard, especially when there's travel costs and hotels involved. For me, it wasn't much since - no travel plans set in stone, no airfare or hotel. Just the race entry. I know that's not the case for some people.
Even today, the trails are still closed. If somehow, Jeff-Co decided between now and tomorrow at 6:00 when the race was supposed to start, would we really want to be out there? Imagine the damage that 200 runners would do - is us running the race worth the time and effort of the trail stewards to repair. If we want to have the ability to race in the mountain parks, we need to be responsible with our usage. Canceling the race, even with a chance of trails opening is the responsible thing for the race director to do. It's not the easiest choice and one that will anger a few of the runners. I for one appreciate the effort that has been made to hold the race and understand that in some ways, the choice to run was gone when Jeff-CO closed the park. Hopefully, there will be rescheduled date that the majority of the runners will be able to make!
This has to be a race director's nightmare. Looking at the forecast for today and Saturday, there's a chance the trails might be just fine. Hero Dirt in mountain biking parlance. But there's also the chance that weather doesn't clear up and Jeff-Co doesn't re-open the trails. It doesn't matter what John does - it's dammed if you do, dammed if you don't. Cancel the race early since the trails are closed and it doesn't look likely to re-open and people will get mad. Especially if the sun comes out and starts melting and drying things out like the current forecast indicates might happen. Then it feels like the cancellation was premature - had we just waited another day, we would have been able to run! I know that thought is rumbling around the heads of many people - myself included. But if you do wait that extra day and still have to cancel, it's a whole different hub-bub. Now people are having to scramble with travel plans, canceling hotels and such. Then the complaints become "why didn't you cancel sooner?" And then there's the true last minute - the morning of the race once it becomes clear there's no way to hold the race. While that might give us the best chance of running, it's gotta be the hardest to deal with because once runners have driven to a race venue, they want to run.
There's a lot of work and planning that goes into holding a race - and most of that work is done well before the event. While it might be something the runners want, it's nearly impossible to refund entries. After all, the money for shirts, awards, permitting - it's all been spent on the necessary costs that races entails. The race director can't simply send the shirts back and say "sorry - don't need these!" Just like the race director, we runners have to eat the costs of the canceled race. That's hard, especially when there's travel costs and hotels involved. For me, it wasn't much since - no travel plans set in stone, no airfare or hotel. Just the race entry. I know that's not the case for some people.
Even today, the trails are still closed. If somehow, Jeff-Co decided between now and tomorrow at 6:00 when the race was supposed to start, would we really want to be out there? Imagine the damage that 200 runners would do - is us running the race worth the time and effort of the trail stewards to repair. If we want to have the ability to race in the mountain parks, we need to be responsible with our usage. Canceling the race, even with a chance of trails opening is the responsible thing for the race director to do. It's not the easiest choice and one that will anger a few of the runners. I for one appreciate the effort that has been made to hold the race and understand that in some ways, the choice to run was gone when Jeff-CO closed the park. Hopefully, there will be rescheduled date that the majority of the runners will be able to make!
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