After Twin Cities Marathon cancellation, what's next for runners and organizers?
Runners travel as a group on West River Parkway around 7 a.m. Sunday, participating in an unofficial race after the Twin Cities Marathon and TC 10 Mile race were canceled.
Courtesy of Leila Hussain
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Tens of thousands of disappointed runners are figuring out next steps Monday, after organizers of the Twin Cities Marathon and ten mile race canceled due to unseasonably hot and humid weather.
The marathon is a qualifying race for the Boston Marathon and the Olympic trials, so Boston and Olympic hopefuls have to figure out another way to qualify this year.
The Twin Cities Marathon’s parent organization, Twin Cities in Motion, is facing continued pushback following their decision to cancel the race two hours before its scheduled start time.
For more on the decision, MPR News host Cathy Wurzer talked with Twin Cities in Motion President Dean Orton. And Andrea Haus, community and marketing manager at Mill City Running and Saint City running, shared how runners are moving forward.
Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.
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Audio transcript
[MUSIC PLAYING] CATHY WURZER: Tens of thousands of disappointed runners are figuring out next steps today after the cancelation of the Twin Cities Marathon and 10-Mile Race yesterday because of unseasonably hot and humid weather. The marathon is a qualifying race for the Boston Marathon and the Olympic trials. That means many Boston Marathon and Olympic hopefuls have to figure out another way to qualify this year.
Meanwhile, the Twin Cities Marathon's parent organization, Twin Cities in Motion, is facing continued pushback following their decision to cancel the race two hours before its scheduled start time. For more, Dean Orton is on the line. He is the president of Twin Cities in Motion. Dean, welcome to the program.
DEAN ORTON: Good afternoon, Cathy.
CATHY WURZER: I know there are still some deflated runners out there. Are you still busy handling the blowback today?
DEAN ORTON: Yes. At all levels, it's still very raw, in some ways heartbreaking. I know at a staff level, volunteer level, certainly we think about all our runners. We know there's just so much work and preparation that goes into that day, and we want it to be a special day for everyone. And the weather just was not going to allow that, unfortunately. And so yeah, it's pretty raw right now.
And we have-- just trying to work through that. And we understand that there's all kinds of different reactions in our running community, and we're doing our best to support that community today and the weeks ahead.
CATHY WURZER: Some runners decided to go out on the course yesterday in spite of the weather. Would there be a possibility organizers could declare it a virtual race for those folks? And if they send their times to you, could you send out medals?
DEAN ORTON: This just really was a statement to the running community. I think the vast majority understood about what's safe and made sense. And then they just found ways to safely go out on their own and do shorter runs, or just to be in community. And that's why it's just so much more than a marathon for this community.
And yes, for those who feel like they'd like a medal, or there's something we can do on those fronts, we're certainly reaching out in that way, whether they ran it virtually, or just ran 10 miles in their neighborhood, however we can help. And if that medal is important to them, it's important to us. And certainly making it available starting this week.
CATHY WURZER: Some folks might want a refund. Any word on refunds for entrants?
DEAN ORTON: Right now, that's one of our top priorities. We're working through that process. As we know, if you run other events and it's clear in the registration, these outdoor events, there's risk. And they sign off in a no refund policy. And it's very specific, and everyone checking a box.
That said, where we're at with TCM, we're in a larger game of keeping the community in motion. And we are looking at what working with the board, the staff, what's the most generous thing we can do collectively for a credit, or really addressing unfinished business? We wanted people to run so badly yesterday. So yes, we are working through.
We're trying to figure out, even though the box says we don't have to, we think we want to. And we're just trying to figure out what can we do as a nonprofit that helps that running community get back in motion? Our goal is by Thursday of this week, all runners from Sunday will get a direct email communication as an update on where we're at on that part of the journey.
CATHY WURZER: There's probably a broader question here. I mean, gosh, this race has been going on since 1982. You've always had it the first weekend in October. Back in '82, I mean, it was what you would expect an October to be, right? Crisp. But you know we're seeing warmer autumns these days because of climate change. Might there be any consideration of pushing the race later in the year, maybe, since it is staying hotter longer?
DEAN ORTON: It is an amazing year-round planning cycle to put together kind of our Super Bowl of events for Minnesota. It's the single largest annual sporting event. And so we think about those dates. And there's a lot of factors, including other marathons in the industry. We are going to go next year the first weekend, again, in October, as per the tradition.
Thankfully, this was an unusual year where we kind get into September, October. It does fall back naturally a little bit next year. But I would say, yes. We're constantly evaluating what's best. And that's certainly something beyond next year that we'll continue to look at is what is the right weekend that continues to make the most sense? And certainly, this would be something we are going to be looking at.
CATHY WURZER: A final question here for you. A lot of folks are looking for other ways to qualify for those other races-- Boston Marathon, Olympic trials. Are you providing resources for those runners?
DEAN ORTON: Right now, yes. The running community has been wonderful-- other reaching out to me and my staff saying, what can we do? So we are looking to see and vetting carefully if there are some alternatives. And we're going to be sharing some redirect opportunities. We're also seeing if we can get them some level of free registration discount-- anything we can do to kind of help find another opportunity.
And so as part of our communication on Thursday and what we can do to help, we are looking at what we can provide on those fronts as well, and leveraging our relationships in a way that might help them get in another race.
CATHY WURZER: All right. Dean Orton, thank you for your time.
DEAN ORTON: Thank you, Cathy. Appreciate all that you do, and appreciate just the entire running community, their support in having to make a really difficult decision on what ended up being the hottest October day for heat and humidity. And we made the decision, and we feel strongly we made the right one, but it doesn't make it any easier.
CATHY WURZER: All right, thank you, Dean. Dean Orton is the president of Twin Cities in Motion. So for more on how runners are trying to move forward in the days and weeks ahead, we're going to turn now to Andrea Haus. Andrea is the community and marketing manager at Mill City Running in Northeast Minneapolis and Saint-- Saintly City Running in Saint Paul. These are running shops that host group runs and other running events around the Twin Cities. Hey, Andrea. Welcome.
ANDREA HAUS: Hi. Thanks for having me.
CATHY WURZER: Well, OK, you know this better than anybody. There's a whole lot of physical prep involved for a marathon-- not only physical, but mental, right? So what are you hearing from some runners about the cancelation?
ANDREA HAUS: Yeah. A lot of disappointment for sure. You put so much time and energy into the physical training of the race, but you also put a lot of time into the mental training for the race, too. So it's kind of a double whammy to be told that you can't run it. A lot of people were very upset yesterday and are now kind of turning their sights towards other races and how to move forward, which is good.
CATHY WURZER: Yeah. Let me ask you a little bit about that in terms of moving forward. Obviously as I mentioned there with Dean, the Twin Cities marathon is a qualifying race for Boston. Because of the situation, are you helping them-- are you helping any runners try to get into Boston, or find a different route, or a different race entirely?
ANDREA HAUS: Yeah. There are a lot of local Midwest marathons this fall coming up. So just trying to kind of spread the word about which ones are still open, which ones have already been filled, and helping runners kind of plan the next few weeks carefully so that they can still chase those goals.
CATHY WURZER: Uh-huh. What about some of the smaller races? I noted that there are several-- gosh, one, two, three, at least four that I counted-- smaller races in Wisconsin and Minnesota. Are they filling up?
ANDREA HAUS: Marathons, you mean?
CATHY WURZER: Yes, uh-huh.
ANDREA HAUS: Yeah, some of them are. I know Bemidji had a few spots open, the Blue Ox Marathon in two weeks. And that filled up almost immediately after the cancelation email was sent out yesterday. I think Columbus filled up in Ohio. I think Mankato filled up, in three weeks. So definitely people are redirecting.
I think Gandy Dancer this coming weekend in Wisconsin and Whistlestop in two weeks in Wisconsin, those are still open, as of right now. The Des Moines Marathon is also open. Those are all relatively close, easy to travel to.
CATHY WURZER: What about the elite runners, the runners who might be looking an eye toward the Olympic trials? What about those folks? What happens to them?
ANDREA HAUS: Yeah. I think that's a tough one, because the course matters a little bit more if you're chasing those super, super fast times. So they might need something a little bit flatter or more forgiving. A popular one that I know of is Indianapolis, and that's at the end of the month. So I think a lot of the elite runners might redirect to Indianapolis. And we've had a few people kind look at Madison as well over in Wisconsin.
CATHY WURZER: Uh-huh.
ANDREA HAUS: And then, of course, there's-- Oh, go ahead.
CATHY WURZER: Go ahead. No, no, no. You were going to go. Finish your thought there.
ANDREA HAUS: There's a few farther out. But the window closes in December for those Olympic trials qualifiers, so they kind of have to pivot pretty quickly.
CATHY WURZER: Well, pivoting must be really difficult, especially if you're primed for one race and you're shut out, right? I mean, have you ever had this? Have you ever seen this before?
ANDREA HAUS: I have not had to experience this before. It is rare, and I think that speaks to how difficult of a decision it probably was, or it definitely was for Twin Cities in Motion yesterday. We've been lucky enough in Minnesota to kind of make it through these weather changes, even this summer. We had some pretty hot local races happen, but nothing quite as long as the marathon, which is just a different task in and of itself.
CATHY WURZER: Uh-huh. Well, Andrea, I appreciate your time. Is there any way that folks, can they get ahold of you and/or others in your running groups if they have questions?
ANDREA HAUS: Of course, yeah. Our group runs happen year-round, so we'll still be out hitting the river, commiserating, and kind of redirecting together.
CATHY WURZER: All right, great. Andrea, thanks for your time.
ANDREA HAUS: Thank you so much.
CATHY WURZER: Andrea Haus is the community and marketing manager at Mill City Running and Saint City Running.
Meanwhile, the Twin Cities Marathon's parent organization, Twin Cities in Motion, is facing continued pushback following their decision to cancel the race two hours before its scheduled start time. For more, Dean Orton is on the line. He is the president of Twin Cities in Motion. Dean, welcome to the program.
DEAN ORTON: Good afternoon, Cathy.
CATHY WURZER: I know there are still some deflated runners out there. Are you still busy handling the blowback today?
DEAN ORTON: Yes. At all levels, it's still very raw, in some ways heartbreaking. I know at a staff level, volunteer level, certainly we think about all our runners. We know there's just so much work and preparation that goes into that day, and we want it to be a special day for everyone. And the weather just was not going to allow that, unfortunately. And so yeah, it's pretty raw right now.
And we have-- just trying to work through that. And we understand that there's all kinds of different reactions in our running community, and we're doing our best to support that community today and the weeks ahead.
CATHY WURZER: Some runners decided to go out on the course yesterday in spite of the weather. Would there be a possibility organizers could declare it a virtual race for those folks? And if they send their times to you, could you send out medals?
DEAN ORTON: This just really was a statement to the running community. I think the vast majority understood about what's safe and made sense. And then they just found ways to safely go out on their own and do shorter runs, or just to be in community. And that's why it's just so much more than a marathon for this community.
And yes, for those who feel like they'd like a medal, or there's something we can do on those fronts, we're certainly reaching out in that way, whether they ran it virtually, or just ran 10 miles in their neighborhood, however we can help. And if that medal is important to them, it's important to us. And certainly making it available starting this week.
CATHY WURZER: Some folks might want a refund. Any word on refunds for entrants?
DEAN ORTON: Right now, that's one of our top priorities. We're working through that process. As we know, if you run other events and it's clear in the registration, these outdoor events, there's risk. And they sign off in a no refund policy. And it's very specific, and everyone checking a box.
That said, where we're at with TCM, we're in a larger game of keeping the community in motion. And we are looking at what working with the board, the staff, what's the most generous thing we can do collectively for a credit, or really addressing unfinished business? We wanted people to run so badly yesterday. So yes, we are working through.
We're trying to figure out, even though the box says we don't have to, we think we want to. And we're just trying to figure out what can we do as a nonprofit that helps that running community get back in motion? Our goal is by Thursday of this week, all runners from Sunday will get a direct email communication as an update on where we're at on that part of the journey.
CATHY WURZER: There's probably a broader question here. I mean, gosh, this race has been going on since 1982. You've always had it the first weekend in October. Back in '82, I mean, it was what you would expect an October to be, right? Crisp. But you know we're seeing warmer autumns these days because of climate change. Might there be any consideration of pushing the race later in the year, maybe, since it is staying hotter longer?
DEAN ORTON: It is an amazing year-round planning cycle to put together kind of our Super Bowl of events for Minnesota. It's the single largest annual sporting event. And so we think about those dates. And there's a lot of factors, including other marathons in the industry. We are going to go next year the first weekend, again, in October, as per the tradition.
Thankfully, this was an unusual year where we kind get into September, October. It does fall back naturally a little bit next year. But I would say, yes. We're constantly evaluating what's best. And that's certainly something beyond next year that we'll continue to look at is what is the right weekend that continues to make the most sense? And certainly, this would be something we are going to be looking at.
CATHY WURZER: A final question here for you. A lot of folks are looking for other ways to qualify for those other races-- Boston Marathon, Olympic trials. Are you providing resources for those runners?
DEAN ORTON: Right now, yes. The running community has been wonderful-- other reaching out to me and my staff saying, what can we do? So we are looking to see and vetting carefully if there are some alternatives. And we're going to be sharing some redirect opportunities. We're also seeing if we can get them some level of free registration discount-- anything we can do to kind of help find another opportunity.
And so as part of our communication on Thursday and what we can do to help, we are looking at what we can provide on those fronts as well, and leveraging our relationships in a way that might help them get in another race.
CATHY WURZER: All right. Dean Orton, thank you for your time.
DEAN ORTON: Thank you, Cathy. Appreciate all that you do, and appreciate just the entire running community, their support in having to make a really difficult decision on what ended up being the hottest October day for heat and humidity. And we made the decision, and we feel strongly we made the right one, but it doesn't make it any easier.
CATHY WURZER: All right, thank you, Dean. Dean Orton is the president of Twin Cities in Motion. So for more on how runners are trying to move forward in the days and weeks ahead, we're going to turn now to Andrea Haus. Andrea is the community and marketing manager at Mill City Running in Northeast Minneapolis and Saint-- Saintly City Running in Saint Paul. These are running shops that host group runs and other running events around the Twin Cities. Hey, Andrea. Welcome.
ANDREA HAUS: Hi. Thanks for having me.
CATHY WURZER: Well, OK, you know this better than anybody. There's a whole lot of physical prep involved for a marathon-- not only physical, but mental, right? So what are you hearing from some runners about the cancelation?
ANDREA HAUS: Yeah. A lot of disappointment for sure. You put so much time and energy into the physical training of the race, but you also put a lot of time into the mental training for the race, too. So it's kind of a double whammy to be told that you can't run it. A lot of people were very upset yesterday and are now kind of turning their sights towards other races and how to move forward, which is good.
CATHY WURZER: Yeah. Let me ask you a little bit about that in terms of moving forward. Obviously as I mentioned there with Dean, the Twin Cities marathon is a qualifying race for Boston. Because of the situation, are you helping them-- are you helping any runners try to get into Boston, or find a different route, or a different race entirely?
ANDREA HAUS: Yeah. There are a lot of local Midwest marathons this fall coming up. So just trying to kind of spread the word about which ones are still open, which ones have already been filled, and helping runners kind of plan the next few weeks carefully so that they can still chase those goals.
CATHY WURZER: Uh-huh. What about some of the smaller races? I noted that there are several-- gosh, one, two, three, at least four that I counted-- smaller races in Wisconsin and Minnesota. Are they filling up?
ANDREA HAUS: Marathons, you mean?
CATHY WURZER: Yes, uh-huh.
ANDREA HAUS: Yeah, some of them are. I know Bemidji had a few spots open, the Blue Ox Marathon in two weeks. And that filled up almost immediately after the cancelation email was sent out yesterday. I think Columbus filled up in Ohio. I think Mankato filled up, in three weeks. So definitely people are redirecting.
I think Gandy Dancer this coming weekend in Wisconsin and Whistlestop in two weeks in Wisconsin, those are still open, as of right now. The Des Moines Marathon is also open. Those are all relatively close, easy to travel to.
CATHY WURZER: What about the elite runners, the runners who might be looking an eye toward the Olympic trials? What about those folks? What happens to them?
ANDREA HAUS: Yeah. I think that's a tough one, because the course matters a little bit more if you're chasing those super, super fast times. So they might need something a little bit flatter or more forgiving. A popular one that I know of is Indianapolis, and that's at the end of the month. So I think a lot of the elite runners might redirect to Indianapolis. And we've had a few people kind look at Madison as well over in Wisconsin.
CATHY WURZER: Uh-huh.
ANDREA HAUS: And then, of course, there's-- Oh, go ahead.
CATHY WURZER: Go ahead. No, no, no. You were going to go. Finish your thought there.
ANDREA HAUS: There's a few farther out. But the window closes in December for those Olympic trials qualifiers, so they kind of have to pivot pretty quickly.
CATHY WURZER: Well, pivoting must be really difficult, especially if you're primed for one race and you're shut out, right? I mean, have you ever had this? Have you ever seen this before?
ANDREA HAUS: I have not had to experience this before. It is rare, and I think that speaks to how difficult of a decision it probably was, or it definitely was for Twin Cities in Motion yesterday. We've been lucky enough in Minnesota to kind of make it through these weather changes, even this summer. We had some pretty hot local races happen, but nothing quite as long as the marathon, which is just a different task in and of itself.
CATHY WURZER: Uh-huh. Well, Andrea, I appreciate your time. Is there any way that folks, can they get ahold of you and/or others in your running groups if they have questions?
ANDREA HAUS: Of course, yeah. Our group runs happen year-round, so we'll still be out hitting the river, commiserating, and kind of redirecting together.
CATHY WURZER: All right, great. Andrea, thanks for your time.
ANDREA HAUS: Thank you so much.
CATHY WURZER: Andrea Haus is the community and marketing manager at Mill City Running and Saint City Running.
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