WINDSOR, ONT. -- The province has delivered some positive news lately about the gradual re-opening of the economy - but some sectors believe 2020 is a wash.
People who plan non-essential events have already felt the impact of cancellations, including those in the road racing industry who don’t expect a soft landing any time soon.
And race directors and suppliers are concerned about what this could do to the industry, long term.
“Even if they say next week, we’re going to reopen everything, we couldn’t. It would be impossible to do that,” says Chris Uszynski, the race director of Running Flat.
His annual race circuit sees around 35,000 runners toe the line for races like the Canada D’Eh run, I Ran the D in Detroit, the Pelee Island half-marathon and past events like the Colour Run in Windsor.
“We’re high-themed events, we create runners everyday. We put on great events that create runners and hopefully they get hooked to it,” says Uszynski.
But with gatherings of five or more people banned, road races - some planned a year in advance - aren’t going off as planned.
Uszynski had to cancel this May’s “I ran the D” and offer a virtual package, largely because the shirts, race bibs and medals were already ordered and delivered, and registration money already spent.
Long term Uszynski doesn’t believe the “virtual” experience is marketable because people won’t be willing to pay to run without the experience.
“We’re all in pain,” he says. “We’re all in a lot of pain right now just trying to figure this out, day to day.”
But Uszynski still has to hold roughly $20,000 in insurance and rent, and spend $30,000 on a warehouse to store his race infrastructure - with no race revenue coming in.
His suppliers are feeling the pinch, too.
Darryl Currie owns Windsor-based printing company, Running Count Inc.
“March sales down 60 per cent, April sales down 75 per cent and May sales are expected to be even lower."
Each year Running Count prints 1.3 million race bibs for events across North America and in the Caribbean. He also prints media for local businesses and sells athletic equipment as a way of diversifying his business.
But today, Currie’s six employees are off work and the printing press is off with no clear date when it will fire back up.
“Large events won’t happen until at some point in 2021 and when that happens, there will be a number of people who are skittish about going to a large event,” Currie adds.
Uszynski believes that uncertainty, plus a possible second wave of COVID-19 and sponsorship issues, could flatten the industry for years.
He’s now faced with the tough decision for The Canada D’Eh race coming up in July: postpone, go virtual or cancel.
“We’re all feeling this angst and anxiety and we’re all working towards seeing this light at the end of the tunnel,” Uszynski says. “It’s going to be a painful year for everybody. But there’s always 2021.”
Meantime, registration is still open for The Detroit Free Press Marathon on Oct. 18, which is organized by a different company.
They are posting regular updates on their website and recognize that they could be faced with some tough decisions in the coming weeks and months about the 2020 race, which draws more than 25,000 people to downtown Detroit.
