In This Edition
Pace Setter : January 2021
2021 Race Preview Video
by Josh Merlis
Are you eager to race in 2021? Need some motivation? Perhaps making this commitment will help - and it can also ultimately provide savings to you, a commemorative blanket, additional perks like free transfers to anyone, your name as a supporter of the series on a photo banner on display at all events, and also serve as an investment in helping us continue to grow events in the Capital District. For $315, you get entry into all 8 ARE Event Productions owned events:
Sat, 2/13 - Brave the Blizzard 5K Snowshoe Race
Sat, 4/17 - Druthers Helderberg to Hudson Half Marathon & 5K
Sat, 6/19 - Dodge the Deer 5K
Sun, 7/18 - Froggy Five & Hard as Hell Half Marathon
Sun, 8/22 - Thacher Park Trail Running Festival - 10K, 13.1M, 26.2M, 50K
Sun, 10/31 - Hairy Gorilla Half Marathon & Squirrelly Six Mile
Sun, 11/21 - Upstate Classic 5K, 13.1M, 26.2M
Sat, 12/4 - ARE Adventure Race
All of these events were held in 2020. We redesigned many aspects of the race experience in the process, with the primary objective across all event components specifically tailored to the significant mitigation of risk as it relates to COVID-19. With CDC and NYS Guidelines and Regulations as the minimum benchmarks we sought out to achieve, we forever appreciate the support of state and local governments and authorities in believing in not just our submitted logistical and deployment plans, but also their trust in you, our participants, to adhere to these plans. For our events at NY State Parks, they gradually loosened the restrictions on each subsequent event of ours as we documented the successful execution of these plans, ultimately culminating with our Hairy Gorilla Half Marathon & Squirrelly Six Mile, that had nearly 300 finishers spread out across 6 groups within which started with just 4 people every 10 seconds.
Pre-Race Staging within a 13,000 square foot pen for 40 people allowing for ample separation
Shortly before the first of dozens of starts over a half hour
As written about here a month ago, and ultimately expanded upon with our December 6th Adventure Race and the continuation of the numbers discussed in that article, nearly 2,000 runners crossed our finish lines in 2020 with zero instances of a health agency contacting us to even consider one of our events as potentially being suspect in the spread of COVID-19.
Safety has always been paramount; with the longstanding aspects of this focused on ensuring a safe physical space while at the event and having medical coverage (and collecting related information from registrants) to ensure that we maximize the chances of a successful outcome for any participant who becomes injured or impaired while at the event. For some of our larger events, a significant bulk of our time has been related to these safety plans and related arrangements and considerations - so the addition of needing to address the potential spread of a communicable disease in 2020 didn’t add safety as part of the event planning process, rather it became one more component of what was already the most important part: making sure everyone makes it home safely, no worse for the wear beyond the temporary fatigue of having participated.
And so whether you want to commit to the entire year for yourself, or perhaps split the 8 race series with a friend or two - when signing up, you can choose to either register yourself for all 8 or receive a code that can be used by anyone to register for each event - we welcome your consideration of our first ever Race Pass - which is available through at least January 31. If that’s not your thing, we’re also excited to announce that registration for all of these events is also now open. We’ve made the entry fees start as low as possible, which both rewards your early commitment and also provides us with sustenance as we have now completed a year that saw 192 of our final 194 events cancel. If you plan on running, why not sign up now? Some of our larger events offer $12 no justification needed registration insurance - if you register now and ultimately can’t make it, you get a full refund (less the $12) - which may very well be less than the increase in the entry fee if registering months from now.
Don’t plan to do any of these? That sure is OK too. We’re all in this together, and regardless of your interest in our events or racing in general, please stay safe and above all else, keep on running. For health. For joy. For new experiences and vitality. Be well and Happy New Year!
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