This year was to be the 25th anniversary of the SGRAC 10k which made it all the more difficult for our Race Director to make the decision to cancel the race due to the icy and dangerous conditions.

 

For those of you new to running or have never been involved in organising a 10k, the amount of time and effort involved by the Race Director is immense, closely followed by the Race Secretary, Chief Marshall and the many club members who give up their time voluntarily, making the SGRAC 10k one of the best organised 10k’s in the south.

 

The costs involved in staging a road race, particularly beforehand, have escalated over the years and along with huge pressure from the Police to keep our race as safe as possible from motorists, almost forced us to cancel the race forever 2 years ago which is why a new route was created in 2009. This also involved 6 road closures adding to the spiralling costs.

 

This year’s race has cost the club in excess of £10,000 most of which cannot be recovered; this includes fees to Fareham Borough Council, paying for mugs, car parking at schools and medals for the Fun Run which are dated and cannot be reused again. The posting of race numbers cost £1200, road signage £900 and hiring the Portaloos £257. Such expenditure amounts to thousands of pounds that cannot be recovered.

 

One of the conditions for entering our 10k, which was clearly stated on the entry form, is “in the unlikely event of the race being cancelled, no monies will be refunded because of the pre-race expenses incurred” and will remain our future policy.

 

However, without prejudice to the above policy, this is the first year in our 25 year history that the SGRAC 10k race has had to be cancelled and as a measure of good faith, the committee has decided to offer the following:

• A reduced entry fee for the 2011 SGRAC 10k which will apply to all entrants from the 2010 race. There will be a deadline for entrants wishing to run in next year’s race otherwise we cannot guarantee acceptance. The deadline will be announced in due course. Please keep a note of your race number as this will help for validation purposes on our database. It will also help verify who you are as names may be spelt differently or have been transcribed incorrectly.

• Any excess funds accumulated from the 2010 race after all expenses are paid will be donated to local charities.

• Regarding collection of this year’s race mugs, members from our club will be in attendance at the Eastleigh 10k and Today’s Runners at Liss and Manor Farm. Mugs can also be collected at Outdoor Direct, Whiteley. Please bring your SGRAC 10k race number with you otherwise we will not be able to issue a mug.

Once again we are very sorry to have disappointed you but with the worst weather conditions for 30 years, your safety was paramount and it was clearly the right decision to make.

 

Next year’s SGRAC 10k will be 16th January 2011 and we look forward to seeing you there.

 

If you have any further points you’d wish to make, please contact peekay63@hotmail.co.uk