Mill Race Marathon offers virtual option

Those who have trained and registered for this year’s Mill Race Marathon will have a chance to compete in a virtual version of the event.

Last week, the Mill Race organizing committee canceled the in-person running of the eighth annual marathon, half marathon and 5K, which were scheduled for Sept. 26, because of concerns over the spread of COVID-19. On Monday, they provided four options, including a virtual one.

“We want people to stay active,” Stafford said. “There are people that have run it every year, and they’re proud of that streak, and they’ll be able to continue to say, ‘I’ve run every Mill Race Marathon.’”

Under the virtual option, runners and walkers will have a chance to do the marathon, half marathon or 5K on their own at a place of their own choosing. The date when those virtual races can begin has yet to be determined, but Oct. 31 has been set as the end date.

Stafford said overall and age group results still would be provided.

“We’re going to trust people to give us actual times, but we’re not going to give out any awards,” Stafford said. “To give out awards or money, we would have to verify it. How you balance things when people do it on different days or different courses, there’s too many variables to that.”

Besides to option to compete virtually, the other options given to registrants include a deferral to next year’s race (Sept. 25, 2021), a donation to COVID relief organizations in Bartholomew County or a refund.

Runners and walkers who still want to do a virtual race, can register up until the day the event had been scheduled (Sept. 26). Stafford said more details about the event would be coming out in the next couple of days on social media and through letters from the Mill Race Marathon marketing team, to all social media

“We talked with Get Me Registered, and they have set up virtual registrations for a number of events now, and some of their experiences were that the events converted over and did well,” Stafford said. “Their guidance on that was that the events that did well had a good marketing plan and a good communications plan. The events that struggled didn’t follow up and didn’t have a good plan. Our marketing team has really jumped in on this and is ready to lead.”