FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
about the 2020 Summer Grand Traverse Mountain Run & Bike
This is a work in progress, and changes weekly (sometimes daily!) as conditions shift around the community, state, and country. Please check back in regularly to see if anything new comes up!
WHY DO YOU THINK THESE EVENTS ARE FEASIBLE AND REASONABLE DURING A PANDEMIC?
The state of Colorado recognizes that we are “Safer at Home and in the Vast, Great Outdoors.” We believe we can mitigate the start, finish, aid stations, and all other aspects of our race so that participants can experience an athletic competition in the “Vast, Great Outdoors.” Many features of the Summer GT make it conducive, or easily adapted, to social distancing:
- No spectatorship permitted at Start, Finish or along backcountry course.
- Wide roads at starts allow lots of space to pass before turning on to singletrack.
- Race is one-way, so there is little opportunity for overlap of runners or crowding
- Relatively small size of racer field < 250 participants total / day (this is no Boston Marathon)
- Long distance (42 miles) allows for a great deal of spacing along the course and naturally creates a trickle of racers at the finish line.
We are further implementing additional measures to promote social distancing and hygiene:
- Racer field will be segmented into smaller start waves to address group size.
- Staggered start waves further ease course congestion at aid station locations.
- Social distancing measures will be maintained from bib-pick up to finish line.
- Mask wearing required at Start & Finish venues.
We’ve drafted modified event operation plans in compliance with county Public Health guidelines for allowable event sizes at Blue and Yellow risk levels. These plans will have been thoroughly reviewed and approved by these agencies before our events are permitted to take place.
WILL ATHLETE HEALTH BE SCREENED PRIOR TO THE RACE?
In the week leading up to the event, athletes will be encourage to pre-screen themselves using the online CDC Self-Checker, to help guide them in deciding whether it is appropriate to attend races.
Upon arrival at bib pick-up the day prior to the race, every athlete will be screened with the following Health Questionnaire.
Any athlete answering Yes to a screening question will be disqualified from racing.
IF THE EVENT IS CANCELLED, WHY CAN’T I GET A 100% REFUND, OR DEFER MY ENTRY?
Six years ago we inaugurated Summer GT events. Since then we’ve worked diligently to evolve these races into top tier competitions, providing an epic stage for endurance athletes to examine themselves through a rugged test of perseverance.
Needless to say, we are not thrilled by the advent of a global pandemic. It not only threatens this year’s races, but it also threatens our ability to produce future GT events. The reality is that the COVID-19 crisis is threatening to financially debilitate CB Nordic’s ability to put on any events at all. The constellation of events we host collectively supports our Events Director, equipment, and overhead, and the loss of any one event threatens all of them. We have already taken a huge hit with the unexpected cancellation of the Winter GT, and any form of Summer GT cancellation will further threaten all of our events, including future Summer and Winter Grand Traverses. Even at 50% refund, we will still experience financial loss. We hope you understand and are willing to share some of the risk with us.
Behind the scenes, we maintain a planning apparatus to produce your race experience. Some of the costs we incur include:
- Year-Round Race Director Salary
- Marketing & Promotion Spend
- Liability Insurance Premium
- Venue & Course Equipment Assets
- Equipment Storage Facility
- Vehicle Registration & Maintenance
- Permit Fees (multiple jurisdictions)
Please refer to this article, “Here’s What Race Directors Want You to Know About Canceled Races”, for so many things we wish we could say.
