The last few weeks have been stressful ones dominated by the uncertainty of Congressional inaction. Throughout this time, we have provided updates on our race and our decision-making process to you, our runners. We are releasing this information to you, our runners, prior to any outreach to the media.
Ohio Canal Corridor staff met with staff at the Cuyahoga Valley National Park yesterday to finalize our back-up plans for the Towpath Marathon. While we were hopeful that Congress would re-start our government in time to allow the race to go forward as planned on this Sunday, those hopes have been dashed and we have reached the drop-dead date where we cannot adequately address the logistics and safety concerns outlined in our permit. Simply put, Congress has not acted and we have run out of time.
I can safely say that we (CVNP + Ohio Canal Corridor) share a common goal in this exercise - to find a date so we do not disappoint our runners who have repeatedly told us that we should not cancel the race - no matter what. Let me say that we share your disappointment, frustration and anger at the predicament that Congress has created and the impacts it has brought.
Together, we reviewed possible dates to hold the event and have concluded that it is possible to hold the race on Sunday, November 3rd on our original course in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. This date seems reasonable in that it provides our elected officials more than enough time to "right the ship." We will also benefit from Daylight Savings Time as we turn our clocks back one hour which give us an additional hour of sunshine in the morning (sun-up at 7:00 am).
While reviewing these options, we factored the unpredictable nature of Washington politics and the what if questions of a continued stalemate. Our answer - we have slotted into the CVNP calendar a second backup date, just in case Congress doesn't get that job done in time for a November 3 date - that date is one week later = November 10th .
We received the final confirmation for this game-plan today, Tuesday October 8, 2013 at 11 am.
We hope that our runners will stay with us and run the race. However, we understand that some may not be able to do so. Our directions to those runners who have signed up - if you cannot make the new date, contact us- see below.
Please know we will continue to provide updates as we approach our new race date with information on Expo and packet pick-up.
Finally, let me state how much we appreciate the patience of our runners, volunteers, and partners in this race. We value that support and will honor the loyalty you have shown. It is my ultimate hope that despite it all the 2013 Towpath Marathon will be remembered as the best race yet!
-Tim Donovan, Executive Director, Ohio Canal Corridor
