Calling All Race Organiser
These are uncertain times we live in… the world is going into a state of shut-down and self-isolation to try curb the spread of the coronavirus, and people everywhere are asking questions that governments, leaders, doctors, scientists, retailers and event organisers simply cannot answer as yet. Nobody knows what is going to happen next, so we’re all trying to work out how best to deal with the situation.
Those of us involved in the running and endurance sport industry have seen all events up till mid-April cancelled with immediate effect, due to the necessary government decision to prohibit any gathering of more than 100 people. Many races have already officially announced that they are cancelling outright, while a few have announced postponements and proposed new dates, and more races are expected to follow suit in coming days. However, nobody is yet sure what is happening to races scheduled to take place from mid-April onwards.
This has all led to many runners posing questions, especially on social media, about alternative dates, refunds on entry fees, virtual races, the availability of T-shirts and goodie bags already paid for, and more. No doubt, race organisers are being inundated with such messages across all channels of communication.
As one of the leading publishers in the running and endurance sport domain, the Modern Athlete team would like to offer our services to all in this community to help get through this difficult time.
- We have a weekly newsletter going out to more than 77,000 runners, so it is a great way to communicate updated event news.
- We are setting up a free portal for all races to communicate their status, i.e. cancelled, postponed, decision pending, etc, which we will distribute across all our channels, including social media.
- We will create article pages on our website for each province and update info as it comes in, giving all our readers the latest available info on event news.
- We will carry this info through to the magazine as well.
While most thoughts right now are on health and safety issues, there are many people also worrying about their finances and their jobs or careers, because the virus-induced shut-down has already denied or will deny them an income. We all know that the coming weeks are going to be really hard, but if we work together, we can try to get through this as best possible.
So please let us know if we can help you and your event in any way. You can speak to any member of our team and we will explain where we can help you:
Richard Laskey – richard@modernathlete.co.za
Roxanne Martin – roxanne@modernathlete.co.za
Jason Martin – jason@modernathlete.co.za
Sean Falconer – seanf@modernathlete.co.za
Alternatively, you can simply send an email to info@modernathlete.co.za with your race information and we will load it onto our portals, please include the following:
Race Name
Race Status
Cancelled/Postponed
Procedure for Participants
Contact for Race
Running regards
The Modern Athlete Team