Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many events folks typically look forward to were cancelled this year. Festivals, concerts, and more fell victim to cancellations and being postponed. However, for those who were looking forward to this year’s Hatfield-McCoy Marathon will still be able to participate-- virtually.
Continuing Virtually
The Tug Valley Road Runners Club (TVRRC) has elected to offer runners the opportunity to run the races virtually. Those interested can visit the website to register and select the race they’d like to participate in. Then, says Leigh Ann Ray, the TVRRC treasurer, “they run the distance of their chosen race wherever they are and at their own pace.” Once the runners have completed their race, the TVRRC will send them their medal, t-shirt, and a sticker for a quart-size mason jar. “One of the items every runner receives each year is a mason jar, but we can’t safely mail them this year, so we are sending a sticker to put on a jar they chose,” explains Leigh Ann.
The TVRRC was already offering virtual races to the members for the regular, local 5K and 10K races, so it was natural to expand it to include this marathon. “It's definitely not the same as running the races the traditional way,” Leigh Ann says, but it will allow them to use the medals they had already ordered.
“As much as I wish we could do the marathon traditionally, I’m really glad we are not having to skip a year, but I’m all for doing it virtually," she says
Looking Forward to Running Together Again
Right now, the TVRRC has slowed down marathon planning for 2020, but hey are looking forward to 2021’s Hatfield-McCoy Marathon. The club will continue to offer virtual monthly races for runners until they can meet in-person again. Members of the club and the entire running community are looking forward to getting together again. “Races are really so much fun and it’s the people who make them,” says Leigh Ann.
Runners will be able to complete the marathon from now until August.To learn more about the marathon, visit the Facebook page. Visit here to learn more about the Tug Valley Road
All photos from the Tug Valley Road Runners Club