The Minnesota Running Industry Task Force (MRITF) is a coalition of over 40 running / walking event professionals in the state of Minnesota. Collectively this group is responsible for most of the running / walking events in the state including: Twin Cities Marathon, Grandmas Marathon, Goldy’s Run, Vikings 5K, Get in Gear, the Loppet events, Heart Walk, and hundreds of other events.
Our purpose
We aim to preserve the event community as much as possible with your help, so that we can continue to offer diverse running / walking events across the state. Our events and organizations are driving the promotion of healthy lifestyles for all Minnesota citizens. Further we help to generate millions of dollars for charity.
Our challenge
Many Minnesota running / walking events and the organizations that produce them are at risk of going out of business.
The National Endurance Sports Coalition is estimating that our industry will experience contraction of up to 75% by the beginning of 2021. We feel that this is a likely outcome in Minnesota as well.
How we overcome this challenge
Outdoor events are proven to be low risk, especially when the appropriate precautions are put in place.
Running or walking events with as many as 1,000 participants can be safely conducted under current social-distancing and mask guidelines, and detailed operational plans have already been developed by the MRITF to achieve this.
Our request
Using the examples set by the states of Connecticut and Colorado, we want to work directly with the state of MN to develop guidelines that enable larger running & walking events to occur.
Minnesota running / walking industry statistics
Estimated number of people who register/participate in organized runs in MN in 2019: 250,000
95% of MN events have either cancelled or gone virtual, representing a loss of revenue of over 80%.
Estimated number of running events in the state in 2019: more than 300 per year.
Estimated amount of money that charities raise/receive in connection with running events in a typical year: $2,800,000.
Estimated number of organizations that either produce running events or support the production of running events in Minnesota: more than 120
Estimated number of jobs, vendors, subcontractors, cities, etc. affected by not allowing some form of running event: 3,000
Overall economic impact to the State of Minnesota if events cannot be held is hard to determine. However we can report that the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon Weekend is equivalent to $35 million annually.
The numbers above are all estimates that use the best information that is available today.
Signs of success
The MRITF has created Covid guidelines to operate a running event and we are confident that we can conduct such an event safely and responsibly.
The City of Duluth recently allowed the Park Point 5 Miler to take place over one day with 600 participants; this includes 3 separate waves with over 200 runners in each wave, released in groups of 25.
A race consisting of 1,000 runners was recently held in Nisswa, MN. This event also included strict safety measures.
Colorado, Connecticut and other states have created guidelines to produce running events.
In closing
The Minnesota Running Industry Task Force, with the help and cooperation of the State of Minnesota, can provide a healthy, and much needed outlet for the stress these uncertain times have created.
We aim to work directly with the State of Minnesota to reopen the running and walking industry in a safe and logical manner.
Links for more resources
Minnesota Department of Health
ARM Covid Event Planning Guide Races will look different in the weeks and months to come, but with technology and creativity we are here to help races/events to get back to “normal” in a way that complies with social distancing. A Rapidly Changing Situation Different parts of the country are seeing different levels of COVID-19 activity. Currently, some parts of the United States nationally are entering the acceleration phase of the pandemic, as others emerge, and still others remain largely unaffected. The duration and severity of each pandemic phase can vary depending on the characteristics of the virus and the local public health response. Because of this, we are all operating with the uncertainty of a rapidly changing situation. Check these resources for the most current and updated information:
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html
https://www.health.state.mn.us/diseases/coronavirus/
For more information on COVID-19 procedures please contact mary@andersonraces.com