For the third time in six months, I’ve had an event cancel on me.
The first time was the Santa Barbara Marathon; I’m still waiting for my refund on that one with the last email from them saying that although it was cancelled in November 2015, I can expect the refund by June 2016.
The second time was the inaugural Carrboro Marathon. This was an excuse to go visit some classic Tar Heel friends in Chapel Hill. Despite having everything in place from June 2015 on, the town council inexplicably reversed its approval in January 2016 for the marathon’s permit. The race director moved the half-marathon route entirely within the Carrboro City Limits and offered refunds to the full marathoners plus complimentary entry into the half marathon. I’m headed there this weekend and will get to see my fellow Tar Heel alums after all.
And just yesterday as I was plotting some summer airfare, I double checked the PA Grand Canyon Challenge I had signed up for. This was a half marathon/full marathon double weekend in late July. But when I went to their website I was confronted with this oddly disquieting and ominous cover page:
This would have been the fourth annual year for the event. Their Facebook page is out-of-date and only fellow adrift runners like me make any mention of the cancelled event. In fact, just checking now and searching for the PA Grand Canyon Marathon FB page, I’m confronted with this equally disturbing message:
It’s like they’re being erased from existence, as if Marty McFly somehow disrupted the space-time continuum and now Ashton Kutcher’s Butterfly Effect is making this race vanish from ever having happened in the first place. The sole consolation is that I hadn’t yet paid for my airfare. They *say* they’re issuing refunds but given that all trace of them is being sucked up by the internet’s Ray Donovan/Winston Wolf, cleaning up the evidence trail.
This was apparently the start line last year and is emblematic of why I kinda wanted to do it. That and it would’ve been another opportunity to try and catch up with my brother in the NorthEast.
But now with that weekend’s races cancelled, I’m looking for something else to run in July. There’s a Firecracker Triple up in Portland around the 4th of July that I might do. I suppose I could just NOT fill the hole in my calendar and just, ya know, enjoy the July weekends… but here’s the thing. I usually DO enjoy the race weekends. If I didn’t, I really wouldn’t be jonesing to find another summer race. It being the height of summer, there’s slim pickings. I guess a lot of races feel it’s too hot and humid for a marathon or people are less likely to sign up for events during this time frame. I’m looking at both domestic and international calendars, particularly southern hemispheres as there it’s the height of winter and perhaps I’m more likely to find something… but so far I’m not having much luck.
In the immortal words of Donald Duck — phooey.
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Breaking News Update (4:11 PM) – I received this letter and check in the mail today. The race organizers seem even more heartbroken than I am. Kudos to them though for getting the refunds out ASAP (unlike Santa Barbara or NotSoNormal).
