Posted 8/7/2020—

River Valley Run COVID Race Plans

We are excited to still be able put on the River Valley Run Trail Festival during these challenging times. In order to do so, we have come up with a plan that fits within all current CDC, State and County regulations for gatherings of people. In order for this to happen, you will be required to carefully follow these guidelines. If you are unwilling to do so, we ask that you either defer your race registration or don’t participate this year. We are very confident that will a little effort on all of our parts, we can have an amazing event despite these challenging times.

The following lists contain guidelines and procedures we will follow for both the RVR Half Marathon on October 17 and the 10K/5K races on October 24:

Arrival

  • Runners will be given a specific arrival time the week prior the race. There will be no flexibility in this time. If you arrive before your designated time, we ask that you stay in your car or stand in front of your car until your time.
  • Half marathoners can be expected to run start anywhere between 8am and 10:30 am. The 10K runners can be expected to start anywhere between 8am and 11:30am and 5K runners can be expected to start anywhere between 10am and - 12:30am.
  • Once runners arrive at our Fort Roller campus, you will be directed to a large field where we will coral you into a designated group of 15. We ask that you socially distance within your coral (ie at least 6’ apart, no high fives, hugging, hand shakes, etc)
  • While in your coral and until you start the race, you will need to wear a mask. We recommend a disposable one that you can throw away at the starting line, or one you can put in your pocket.

Race Start

  • Every 3 minutes, a group of 15 runners will be directed to move to the starting line.
  • This pattern will occur in 9 waves and we will then take a 30-45 minute break until the next section of runners will follow the same pattern. This will give adequate time for the corals to clear out and create considerable spacing on the course.

Finish

  • When runners finish, you will be funneled to pick up a prepackaged food box and then to the post race area where we will ask you to continue socially distancing of at least 6’ and leave the property within 15 minutes. If you have a second mask, we ask that you put it on in the post race area while not eating or drinking.
  • We will have NO post-race vendors, activities or bag check.
  • The awards ceremony will be done that evening LIVE on the River Valley Run’s Facebook Page. Time TBD.

Other Safety Considerations

  • Runners coming in and runners leaving will not mix (ie they will be directed to walk in a one way pattern). Incoming runners and outgoing runners will use a separate entrance/exit.
  • You will need to bring your own water/hydration pouch. We will provide individual bottles at 1 on-course water stop and at the finish.
  • Port-a-pots will be cleaned on a regular basis throughout the day.
  • Handwashing stations will be provided.

Important Note—While we are permitted to hold the event in the current environment with these new guidelines, restrictions can always change which could negatively impact the event. We will keep you informed of any changes (if any) as it gets closer.

Previous update, posted 6/26/2020—

Our race committee have been working diligently on a plan for the run festival. As of right now, our plan is to move forward with our running festival as long as we are permitted to do so by the state. We are praying that by October it will be safe to hold our event as planned.

We want you to know that our RVR race committee is 100% committed to the safety of our runners. We are working on implementing new policies, to ensure we hold as safe of an event as we possibly can. We will update our runners on these policies once they are set into place.

The committee has also strategically planned an alternative race day schedule should we not be allowed to host large groups in our state by the month of October. Some of these plans include running smaller groups at timed intervals throughout the period of the day. With these alternate plans in place we are feeling very optimistic about the chance of seeing runners on the trails on October 24.

Moving forward, we would like to thank you all for your patience and your support at this time. We are taking this day by day and praying for guidance and direction along the way.

We know everyone is anxious to run and put those training miles to good use, as are we. Please continue to train hard and stay safe. We look forward to seeing your smiling faces soon!