The pandemic fitness trend is still in full swing. The trails have never been busier, bikes are in short supply, people are out and about running, biking and hiking everywhere you look.
Despite the uptick in overall activity and in-person race events resuming this year, it seems the number of race participants is down. What are the effects of having a year or more off for these events and will they bounce back?
When events could resume in early spring, some chose a scaled-back version. Others canceled for a second year. Some thought given a year off, people would be eager to get back to racing again. But turnouts were lower than expected and this trend is continuing through summer events.
There seems to be several factors involved. Initially, there was still hesitancy regarding safety in crowds and vaccination rates. As that has lessened another factor has emerged. People who have raced for a long time and either are not in “race shape” or did not miss the training and racing and are choosing not to compete.
There of course will always be competitive people who race. But will that group that races for fun or motivation come back to racing? Many people seem to have found motivation in something other than competition. What will it take to get them back to the race scene?
Our area has so many race events year-round. There is something for just about everyone. A great number of them impact not only our community nonprofits but also tourism dollars. In the future will we be seeing smaller events, fewer events or is this a pandemic blip and next year’s numbers will be back to normal?
The fall version of Mud Sweat and Beers and The Iceman Cometh will be good indicators of which way the racing trend is heading. Will they continue to be the sold-out events in years past? Come race day, how many people will actually show up?
Putting on these events is no small feat. They require a year of planning, organization, fundraising and people to do the work. On top of that, the volunteers for the actual events can number into the hundreds.
Even smaller events require herculean effort by fewer people to provide a good experience for racers. Will the effort be worth it if the participation levels continue to decline?
The pandemic has forced us to change and adapt in many ways during the last year and a half that we never could have imagined and the race community is no different. A lot of unknowns remain.
What I do know is a lot of good comes to our community through these events so my hope is that decline in participation is temporary, but only time will tell.
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