1/24 UPDATE (10:30 AM): Getting reports that Chesterfield County and Henrico County Schools will be allowed to compete on Friday and Saturday at St. Christopher's!
The track meets still go on in Alaska even outdoors with several feet of snow, but a dusting of a few inches in Virginia can cripple and shut down teams from traveling to indoor meets.
Despite this week's very mild snow fall in Virginia, this weekend's St. Christopher's Invitational is on as scheduled for both days. Good news for the 50 schools planning to attend, but not so much good news for the local schools entered in at least for Friday's events.
While most of the Northern Virginia school systems were wise enough to re-open school on Friday thus allowing their teams to travel to meets this weekend, many of the local Richmond area schools with equal or lesser snowfall totals apparently didn't get the memo and closed schools on Friday so most area teams closest to St. Christopher's will not even be allowed to compete on Friday and their status for Saturday's events are still up in the air because after all in Virginia...every inch of snowfall = 2 days of missed school.
How in the world do they even go to school and host track meets in the Northeast??? Do all their track teams cross country ski to track meets? Their school systems must have 100 times more liability insurance up there right? Neither. They just aren't pansies and overreact when it comes to snow.
Let the kids and teams compete this weekend at St. Christopher's and meets elsewhere! At least allow the athletes to have the option and choice to be transported by their parents or given approval by their parents to transport themselves to attend and compete in the meet. Bad move by Chesterfield, Hanover, Henrico, and Richmond City schools. Their superintendents must have had a recent conference with the people in charge of Radford City Schools that banned their cross country team from running on their streets earlier this school year. If you are a parent of a track & field athlete affected by this decision, please let your voice and displeasure be heard to those in charge.
All major roads are fine and clear in Richmond. I won't have any trouble traveling to cover the meet in my 25 to 30 minute drive from the Midlothian area in Chesterfield County to the St. Christopher's School. I will be safe and good to go once I am able to walk past that one slick spot on my driveway to my vehicle. God forbid that we have even a dusting of snow for next weekend's last chance invitationals at Virginia Tech and Boo Williams (Atlantic Coast Invite). If the weather channel comes up with a scarier name than Hercules or Janus for the next storm, the school systems might cancel school on a no precipation storm by fear of name alone.
Nonetheless, MileStat.com will be there both days for the St. Christopher's Invitational with photo and video coverage as well as tweet and results update throughought both days of competition regardless of which teams are allowed to compete in the meet.