Shamrock Shuffle run/walk called off
* See MountainEAR 5K event page
* Join the discussion on Facebook with the Potomac Highlands Distance Club
Frostburg, Md., March 7, 2013 — Efforts to save the inaugural Shamrock Shuffle 2.62K run and walk, scheduled for Saturday, March 9 in Frostburg, fell apart late Thursday afternoon after two alternate race sites failed to work out. The race has been officially cancelled and will not be re-scheduled.
The event, which was intended to benefit the Frostburg Food Pantry, originally was scheduled to roam the streets of Frostburg proper, from City Place to the pool and back. The route required nearly two dozen volunteers to serve as course marshals to monitor intersections and necessitated the oversight of the city’s streets and police departments. However, a mid-week snowstorm created higher-than-normal manpower needs from Tuesday night into Thursday, making city staff unavailable to support the run on Saturday.
The other issue, city officials said, is that while the 12-plus inches of snow is melting rapidly, piles of snow chest-high remain at many street corners in the town and would add limit motorists’ line of sight at intersections.
Christine Werner, race director, and Kevin Spradlin, of the Potomac Highlands Distance Club, looked at other options nearby — but outside city limits, but two primary locations did not pan out by mid-afternoon Thursday.
“It’s never easy to make a decision like this,” said Spradlin, who noted the club has had only one other weather-related issue. In 2011, the club’s flagship Fire on the Mountain 50K (presented by Sheetz) trail race in Green Ridge State Forest was postponed one week after a freak late-October storm put six inches of heavy snow on the forest’s 47,000 acres of trees. That, along with sub-32-degree temperatures, prevented the race from being staged as originally scheduled.
“In this case, there’s no room to re-schedule because the club already has another event scheduled for March 16,” Spradlin said.
The MountainEAR 5K run and walk and 1-mile fun run is scheduled for an 11 a.m. start at Hazel Ruby-McQuain Memorial Park in Morgantown, W.Va.
Participants who already have registered for the event are being offered to choose between three options. First, a full refund of the entry fee can be returned to the participant. Second, the runner or walker can transfer — at no additional cost — their entry fee to the MountainEAR 5K or 1-miler in Morgantown on March 16 — or, lastly, they can choose to have 100 percent of their entry fee donated to the Frostburg Food Pantry.
“We’re trying to make the best of a less-than-perfect situation,” Spradlin said. “We hope that, by offering these three options, pre-registered participants will feel good about whatever choice they make.”
Werner said despite the cancellation, she was grateful for the 28 volunteers recruited to support the event, including 20 from Frostburg State University’s ECHOSTARS — a mix of service-oriented students from Phi Theta, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Alpha Phi Omega, Delta Omicron, Phi Mu Delta and the Student Government Association. Additional volunteers came from Team Strong Triathlete, a Western Maryland-based triathlon club.
In addition, Werner said the donations made by local businesses would be returned to them.
For more information, visit www.PhDispatch.com or call 304-209-8981.
March 7, 2013
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