Good morning -
I hope this email finds you and yours safe and healthy.
Without a doubt, it has been a stressful few weeks for all of us. After much anticipation and excitement for our 17th annual Spring Backyard Burn Trail Running Series, we were extremely disappointed to have to
cancel a good portion of the entire series so far...including the
fourth race of the series at Lake Fairfax scheduled for May 3rd. I know you were disappointed as well as you were registered for this race.
EX2 Adventures is celebrating our 20th anniversary this year and has put on over 280 events. This year, we have a race calendar filled with 18 cycling, trail running, and multi-sport events. So far this year, we have had to postpone or cancel six of our first seven races and more might be cancelled in the very near future. All of our events impact each other as many costs are shared across our events during the year. In addition, many race-specific costs are expended many weeks and months before a race ever takes place.
EX2 has largely had the same postponement and cancellation policy since its founding. It says that if a race is postponed and the racer can't make the new date, then they receive 100% credit to another race. This is also the case if a race is cancelled. This policy always results in a financial loss for EX2, but we believe the credit policy treats our athletes fairly. Many races across the county do not provide any race credit, deferral, or refund options at all and others charge a fee to defer.
The COVID-19 pandemic will have a very negative impact on the financial health of EX2. With that said, we understand that this situation will be extremely difficult for most small businesses, individuals, and families. For these reasons, we have added two additional options to our cancellation policy.
With regard to your race entry, you have three options on how to proceed.
Option #1 (default): Receive 100% credit of your entry fee towards another EX2 running race.
This credit is good through the end of the
2021 season. If you would like this option, then
you do not need to do anything.
You do NOT need to reply to this email.
I will email out the credits beginning around the third week of April.
Option #2: You can choose to donate your entry to EX2 Adventures, meaning that I would not process a credit for you. We are including this option because many racers have told us that they would like to donate their entry fee to help support EX2 during this difficult time. Donations are appreciated, but not expected.
Option #3: You can choose to receive a 50% refund of your entry fee. This refund will be placed back on the credit card that you used to register. I sincerely wish the refund option could be more, but to do so would add significant long-term financial risk to EX2 in these unique times.
I'll assume you would like a credit unless I hear from you that you'd like to select option #2 (donate to EX2) or option #3 (50% refund). If you'd like to select either or those options, just reply to this email and let me know which one you choose.
Please let me know by April 10th.
By helping each other, we will weather this storm, and come out better on the other side. Thank you for your support of EX2. Take good care of yourself and your family.
*****
Oh...one more thing...running isn't cancelled!!
To help keep everyone moving, staying healthy, and challenging themselves...we are having a FREE virtual edition of this race.
Separate and in addition to the choices above, each of you will be automatically entered into a virtual Spring Backyard Burn race.
You will receive separate instructions, but here are the basics of how it will work (I think anyway...this is new to me too!!)
- You'll have a set time period to complete your 5 or 10 mile run (the race).
- You can run it anywhere you want as long as it's in STRICT compliance with social distancing rules and all federal, state, and local instructions. Pavement, trails, grass...anything goes!
- All results will need to be submitted no later than 8am on May 3rd (the original race date).
- At 10am on May 3rd, we'll have a virtual awards ceremony via Zoom. Yes...seriously.
- During the awards ceremony we'll be giving away fun prizes including virtual pint glasses, trail runner magazine subscriptions, EX2 swag, and even $100 cash!! You need to be virtually "present" to win!!
- All the details will be emailed to you in the pre-race email.
If you have any concerns at all about the options above, or just want to say hello, please contact me.
Hang in there. Stay safe and healthy, and keep running!
Andy
Race with EX2
