Wilmslow Running Festival postponed until March 2021

Dear Runner, We hope that you’re keeping well and managing to stay fit and healthy throughout this challenging time we find ourselves in. We wanted to update you on our plans for the Wilmslow Running Festival, which was rescheduled from March to October, as a consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic. When we had to postpone the event in March, we believed that by October this year we’d be in a position to hold the event safely and with the support of our runners and local residents. Unfortunately, with the continued uncertainty as to when restrictions will be eased, our desire to keep the local community and volunteers safe, we feel that the only decision is to reschedule for next year. Our provisional date is Sunday 21st March 2021, which will be subject to government guidance for events at the time. This decision has not been taken lightly, our incredible volunteers have been continuously communicating and deliberating on the next steps and it is with a heavy heart that we make this decision. As you will know, Wilmslow Running Festival is a charity and this year we’re supporting two additional charities that really need our help: The Christie and Supportability. We are still striving to achieve as much of the good that comes out of an event like the Wilmslow Running Festival as we possibly can. We have already incurred costs for 2020 and we’ve honoured our commitments to our suppliers, all of which are small businesses who had already delivered their contracted services for the race day in March. For this reason, we hope you’ll understand our decision to offer alternatives to a refund, which would result in grave financial difficulties for us as a charity. We have worked hard to find solutions that we hope will work for you as runners and keep this brilliant event alive for many more years to come. As always, any surplus from our event will go directly back into local community organisations to keep them afloat and nothing from race day will go to waste, all energy bars, snacks and drinks will go to local charities. Following the above, we would be incredibly grateful if you could consider one of the following options: You are currently registered for the Half Marathon with a race No. of 1 1. Virtual Run. Do a Half Marathon Run. By the end of June 2020. Once your run is complete, let us know you have completed and you can visit Running Bear (5 London Road, Alderley Edge SK9 7JT) when it re-opens to collect your goodie bag and medal (plus T-shirt for Half marathon runners). Or if you would like to have your goody bag posted, rather than collect it, this can be organised for a postal and packaging fee of £3.50. Please email us on admin@wilmslowrunningfestival.org.uk and the volunteers will arrange this for you.  Please take along or include proof of entry and your race number – If you were going to be collecting your race number on race day, just take your email confirmation of entry. 2.  July 4th Waters Virtual Race. Join in with the 4th July Waters Virtual Race Half Marathon on the Saturday 4th July. Run with the WRF Event App on your smartphone and compete against all of the other runners doing this. Your progress can be watched live on our app and your personal race can be shown on the actual route you are running/also can be viewed on the Wilmslow route in real-time. Live leader boards and splits will all work as though you are running the actual course, as you would have in the original race. On completion you can download a certificate and then collect your bag from Running Bear when they re-open – there will also be some exciting spot prizes to keep you motivated! This option will be accessed through the Wilmslow Running Festival App, which will go live 2 weeks before the Virtual Race. We will be updating the WRF website, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter with information as soon as the app is live. 3. Defer your entry to March 21st 2021. Your current number will no longer be valid, so please use the credentials below or in your confirmation email for March 15th 2020, which will take you to your personal login, where you can request a unique deferral voucher. This voucher must be requested by end of May 2020. This voucher will then enable you to enter the rescheduled event (21st March 2021) free of charge when the entries open in the near future, providing you register by the end of June 2020 (Instructions will be in your personal login). Link: HERE Username: 128635 Password: 6y254a 4. Actively Donate your entry fee. To donate your 2020 enry fee to the Wilmslow Running Festival Charity, which would be so gratefully appreciated in these difficult circumstances, please email us on admin@wilmslowrunningfestival.org.uk by the 5/7/20 to let us know you want to do this. You can then collect your bag from Running Bear when they re-open (5 London Road, Alderley Edge SK9 7JT). Our team of volunteers will respond as quickly as possible. Or if you would like to have your goody bag posted, rather than collect it, this can be organised for a postal and packaging fee of £3.50. Please email us on admin@wilmslowrunningfestival.org.uk and the volunteers will arrange this for you. 5. Do Nothing. If you do not undertake a Virtual Run by 30/6/20 or If you do not join our Virtual Race on 4/7/20 or If you do not defer to 2021 by requesting a voucher by 31/5/20 or If you do not actively donate your entry fee by 5/7/20 Then we’ll assume you’re happy to donate your fee to the Wilmslow Running Festival Charity and be very grateful for your support and understanding. If you have raised funds for The Christie or Supportability, they’ll be hugely appreciative to receive them directly which you can do so through the following links – Supportability – https://supportability.charitycheckout.co.uk/donate#!/ The Christie – https://secure.christiecharity.org/donate We know how disappointed you’ll be to receive this news – we are right there with you. We can’t wait to have races up and running again but in the meantime, we’re planning to get even more active on social media with a free programme of challenges, quizzes, competitions, prizes and advice for you. So please join in and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. To kick start our exciting virtual events, we are hosting the Waters Wilmslow Running Festival Quiz on Sunday 3rd May at 7pm. It will be held on our Facebook page – Wilmslow Running Festival and there will be four rounds of fun running related questions! All you will need is a pen and paper and you’ll even be in with a chance of winning a brand new pair of Nike trainers, very generously donated by Running Bear! Any voluntary donations for taking part in the quiz will go directly to our NHS Heroes. If you’d like to support, the link is here: WilmslowRunningFestival#runforthenhs Finally a big thank you to our sponsors for their unwavering support throughout this difficult period and to our incredible runners for their continued support, kind words and empathy – it’s because of the truly brilliant running community that we are able to help so many others in their times of need and we’ll continue to do so for as long as we are able! With best wishes for your health and fitness – The Wilmslow Running Festival Team.   Follow us on Facebook for latest race news   Share your training and race photos with us   Click for the latest event updates via twitter