After much deliberation, and with a heavy heart, we have taken the decision to postpone Darth XI, which was scheduled to be held on Saturday 28th March 2020.
The worsening public health situation and likely forward-scenario around the coronavirus means that, although it’s incredibly disappointing to postpone an event that’s such an integral part of the local area, we can’t justify the risk of either indecision, or, ploughing on regardless.
This is not a decision that we have taken lightly, but we have a duty of care to our runners, spectators, volunteers, organisers, and of course the wider community, to ensure that their safety is paramount. We are also conscious that a mass gathering of this nature may distract an already-stretched public health resource.
In addition to duty of care, there are also financial considerations. As you likely know, Peloton Running is a ‘not-for-profit’ organisation, run entirely by volunteers. By making the decision to postpone Darth XI today, we are able to mitigate against some (although not all) of the financial penalties for doing so. Were we forced to cancel the event further down the line, we would incur costs that would threaten our ability to host any of our events again.
We will continue to monitor the situation and will seek to reschedule the event once we have a greater level of certainty that Darth XI can be held safely and to the high standard that you have come to expect from us.
As runners ourselves, we are sure this will come as disappointing news, but we would like to reassure all of our Darth XI participants that your entry will be carried forward to the newly arranged date. This will be done automatically without you needing to do anything.
We will of course communicate the new date at the earliest opportunity to ensure that runners can update training and travel plans in good time.
We would like to thank everyone in advance for your patience and understanding.
From the Darth / Peloton Running team