A sad and yet not unexpected announcement from us. following the Government’s announcement last week and having considered their road map to this pandemic, here is our latest update:
We have always said we would be guided by the Government and our Governing Bodies advice to continue putting on safe events for our runners, marshals, spectators, suppliers and landowners. In their plan some leisure and tourism business are expected to begin opening from 4th July, if safe to do so, however we do not foresee mass participation events being part of this phase.
We have therefore taken the tough decision to postpone the upcoming events in July and the first week in August. So for a start your race entries and camping pitches you have booked are safe, we are not going anywhere. In the coming months we will see some races and companies go down the drain, we are not one of them.
- Giants Head marathon weekend is postponed to 2021 as previously announced.
- Crafty Fox weekend will be postponed to 2021 and we are talking with the landowner to agree an event date.
- Cider & Piggy Weekend will return in 2021 , date depending on harvest
- Weekend at the Races (again) having already postponed this once, will return in 2021
At the moment our new race Cranborne at the end of August and Run Jurassic at the end of September are still on but please watch this space.
Like many other small businesses, we have furloughed our staff and I am doing all I can to make sure WSR will be here on the other side of this. Emails are being dealt with as soon as we have answers to your questions and we ask you to be patient, as we’ve previously said if you wish to defer your place to another event instead of that prescribed, you wait to email us to make sure events are going to be taking place, to help minimise unnecessary administration.
We have always wanted to be fair with our deferral policy. Some races charge you ££££ to defer or change a race, some do not allow it all or ask you to re-pay for the privilege. Some take your money and tell you to do one if you want to defer.
We have a fair runner policy and give various options if you are unable to take part in a race. The terms and conditions you agree to when you sign up to one of our races state that your entry fee is non-refundable and we cannot change this, even in these difficult times.
You did read the terms and conditions didn’t you?…………Of course you did.
We want races big and small and the running community too survive after this outbreak.
We are ever hopeful that guidance and practical measures will start emerging to enable events to take place later in the summer and we will continue to consider how we can put practical measures in place to put on safe events for all.
We work with some of the county’s finest companies and suppliers.
Everyone from landowners to brewers, biscuit companies to event medics, they are having a lean time of it. They have all been very hard hit by this, we will try our best to make sure that we support them when we return to racing.
The whole events and tourist industry in Dorset has been hammered by Covid 19 and we want it to return safely and as strong as it can be.
We will return as soon as it is safe.
In the mean time you stay safe
Andy and the team at WSR
Governments Plan can be seen here https://www.gov.uk/…/our-plan-to-rebuild-the-uk-governments…
Our previous announcements are here https://whitestarrunning.co.uk/news/