One by one, large road races around the region and country have been canceled this year because of COVID-19.
Columbus’ Mill Race Marathon became the latest to fall Tuesday morning, 94 days before it was to be contested. The Mill Race committee pulled the plug Tuesday on what was to be the eighth annual event scheduled for Sept. 26.
"As far as promoting active health and lifestyle, that’s our mission," said Laura Dudukovich, executive director of the Mill Race organizing committee. "But there is a safety aspect there, as well. There’s too many unknowns. While it’s not an easy decision, we thought it was the best one."
A virtual event, where people still could run or walk on their own the day of the event, still is possible.
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"There’s still a high probability that we will do a virtual event, but we’re working on that the rest of this week and will make further announcements," race director Randy Stafford said.
More than 3,200 runners and walkers finished last year, including 196 who completed the full marathon (26.2 miles). The rest were split between the half marathon (13.1 miles) and 5K (3.1 miles).
So far this year, 198 people had entered, including 37 who had signed up for the full marathon. Entrants will be given a refund or a transfer to the 2021 event.
Registration has typically picked up in late summer the past several years. But with equipment needing to be ordered and other logistical matters needing to be settled if the race were to happen, the committee decided to call off the race now rather than waiting.
"In April, we reached out to our counterparts with our committee and medical," Dudukovich said. "We said we can plan accordingly until the end of June. That was kind of our end date that we put on our calendar because of expenses. We’ve been staying in touch with the city, mayor, police, and the end of June has always been the date on the calendar for us."
Besides Dudukovich and Stafford, the Mill Race organizing committee includes race coordinator Joel Sauer, finance director Doug Evans and event chair Dave Venable. They’ve been talking since late March, and at that point, with a lot of people working from home, they recognized the need to be ready to adjust their plans.
The committee watched what was happening with other races, including the 500 Festival Mini-Marathon in Indianapolis and the Carmel Marathon. Both were canceled, although the 500 Festival Mini-Marathon held a virtual event.
Dudukovich said the Mill Race committee will decide on virtual option by next week.
"In my mind, it keeps the race going, even though it’s virtual," Dukukovich said. "With so many crazy things and so much negativity in the world, people are still training and doing positive things. People still have these goals, and you want to keep that momentum going. You don’t want to thwart people who are helping their physical and mental health."
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For more information on the Mill Race Marathon, visit millracemarathon.com/.
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