Pacific Crest Endurance Sports Festival goes virtual
SUNRIVER, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Like so many events this year, the Pacific Crest Endurance Sports Festival, which usually brings thousands of athletes, family and friends to Sunriver each June, will go virtual instead due to COVID-19, race organizers said Friday.
Here's the announcement sent to athletes by Why Racing Events:
"It is with heavy hearts that we must announce that Pacific Crest Endurance Sports Festival is transitioning to a virtual event.
"COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on our event season and the world as a whole. We were hoping for some glimmer of possibility that we could continue with the event at the end of June. However, it has become clear that it would be impossible to safely host the event under the current conditions.
"The health of our athletes, volunteers, partners and the Sunriver community has always been our most important priority. Although we want nothing more than to be able to see all of you racing in stunning Central Oregon, that is just not a reality this year.
"Over the last number of weeks, we have been reviewing all options including postponing the event to a future date, but due to the uncertainty of the current situation, hosting the event at a later date this year is proving to not be a viable option. As runners and triathletes ourselves, we cannot begin to tell you how disappointed and heartbroken we are.
"As an organization, during these challenging and unprecedented times, we have chosen to figure out what we can do versus what we can't do. That's what athletes do, right? When presented with an obstacle, you figure out how to go around, over, or through. Although COVID-19 is stealing the opportunity for us to race together physically, we can still race together in spirit.
"Since we can't offer the live race option, Pacific Crest athletes will now race apart but together from all over the country. We aren't cancelling on you! This will be our 5th Virtual event in 2020 and we have some experience how to still make this special for you. We have learned that our athletes have really appreciated that they have something positive to look forward to and something to train for.
"Just because COVID-19 canceled our plans, it doesn't mean your goals need to be cancelled. Not to mention, we need an outlet and an incentive to put the training in to develop our physical strength, mental health, reduce our stress, and build our immune system.
"All of this is important, now more than ever. So you will still do the distance that you signed up for but you will now do it between June 19-July 4th during the specified time frame at your chosen location with your closest family/friends. You still get all the SWAG including BIG BLING and upgraded merchandise to remind you of the year you raced in such a unique way. You will send us your race photos, videos and results so we can still create an official photo album, race video, finisher's certificate and results listing.
"We will host virtual awards ceremonies and have prizes and challenges leading up to and throughout the event. We need that sense of community and that feeling that we're going through this together. We need to feel that sense of accomplishment. The emails we have been receiving from our athletes who have participated in our virtual events have been so overwhelmingly positive and have confirmed for us that offering the Virtual option is what the majority of our athletes want and need right now.
"We will provide specific guidelines for each virtual race and distance including the rules and also how to do each leg of the Triathlon and AquaBike events in the next couple weeks and will depend on whether local pools will be open or not. "
