For as long as I can remember, in past years canceled races were fortunately rare and exceptional cases. Of course, it was something that was always provided for in the regulations, and usually the cancellation fell into the category of “force majeure” or those cases in which the decision does not depend in any way on the will of the organizer. None of us have mail read those lines, needless to deny it, just as we do not read 99 percent of the digital contracts we accept.
Over the past two years, however, the topic has become-unfortunately-something we have come to know almost daily. Of canceled races we have seen many and will see many more: 2022 has just begun and I have already lost a couple of them on the way. So here is a little vademecum of behavior-more like common sense-for runners and organizers. In no particular order.
A necessary premise
While I am on the side of those who run races, I have had the good fortune and pleasure of knowing very closely those who do run races (which, moreover, often does not mean that they do not also run them, or have not run many in the past). Organizing a race has high management costs and, above all, it involves a commitment that lasts for the entire year leading up to the event: relations with institutions, inspections, finding sponsors, managing volunteers, refreshment stations, producing materials, and so on. After the competition is over then we start working again already on the next edition, it is a huge and ongoing commitment. The first person who does not want an event to be canceled is the organizer himself.
Small vademecum for runners
- When you sign up for a race, always read the regulations in their entirety. Nullification, which before might have been a mild probability, is now instead a real possibility: at least you know what you’re up against, “know your enemy,” said that joker Sun Tzu.
- Consider carefully when to enroll. Many of us (me certainly) plan the season well in advance and sign up many months before the race itself, jamming dates and recovery times into increasingly complicated Excel files. If you miss one (or worse, they move it up a few months) your whole house of cards could come crashing down: perhaps it’s time to sign up for fewer and more under-dated races when you’re relatively certain it won’t be canceled.
- The organizers are not your enemy. As already mentioned, if the race is canceled you can be sure that it is a last resort and that everything possible will have been done to avoid it-they will be the first to lose out, don’t get all bent out of shape, we are often in the same boat.
- Remember to already mark on the calendar the races that have moved you. I for 2022 found myself already signed up for a good number of races that were to be held in 2020 or 2021 and had to opt out in favor of other races to be held on the same weekend.
- Okay, did they cancel a race for you? Relax. Unless you are a professional and this is not your job (but wanting even then) nothing serious has happened. You are frustrated, you are pissed off. It is permissible. But relax: there will be other races or other opportunities to run anyway. In my personal experience a cancelled race became an opportunity to organize a restricted outing with running friends, with less gel at the refreshments and many more beers.
Small vademecum for organizers
- Always specify in the regulations what will happen in case of cancellation. To the extent possible provide for both a bib retention option and a refund option, albeit a partial one; it is always better to have a choice than to be forced into one. Losing the bib and no refund in my opinion is not a morally tenable option, nor is justifying it with a cold “it was written in the regulations.”
- Think twice before moving the competition a few months ahead. If I signed up for a race in the Tuscan countryside in mid-March and then have to do it at the end of June, it is not exactly the same thing: in addition to the not insignificant weather/temperature issue, it is easy for me to have other plans in June, running or otherwise (see my aforementioned Excel file). It often makes more sense to forgo the current edition and see everyone again the following year.
- If you cancel a race notify all participants immediately. It sounds trivial, but we often limit ourselves to a post on social channels: first send an email to all subscribers, then-at the same time-update the site and give the news wide visibility on social. Last weekend I was going to have a race in Liguria, and to date no one has informed me of its cancellation-I learned about it from a friend who had heard about it from another friend who had read about it by chance on Facebook.
- If you cancel a race it immediately blocks the ability to register. Again, we are in the realm of statements that should be taken for granted, but a friend I run with happened to register for a race that had already been cancelled for a couple of days: there was no information about it on the site, and the whole registration and payment process went smoothly. Yes, for the record it is the same race as the previous point.
- Be as transparent and honest as possible. I saw aggressive marketing campaigns with the sole purpose of increasing the number of entrants as much as possible for races that it was obvious to everyone that they could not be held. Races, moreover, whose bibs had a considerable cost. And on Sunday evening it was communicated “come on, still seats available” except then on Monday morning it became “we are sorry, race canceled, as per regulations no refund provided.” This is not the way.
Cover Photo by Charles Deluvio on Unsplash