There have now been two club invitationals held in VA and so far, it looks really good for our sport. Though ultimately this is just our opinion on how things worked and looked, you cannot disagree with some of the things we saw and how it makes our sport look good and safe.
We were personally on-site at the meet at Pole Green Park but also saw photos and videos from the meet down in the 757 so this analysis is based on both of those.
Our Takeaways:
- Both meets limited race sizes to fifty athletes, this looked great on the starting line and saw the fields very spread out by the two mile mark. You could see room to add a few more athletes even it was so spread out.
- There was not a single person without a mask on. Spectators, coaches, and even athletes all obeyed the mask rules to a 't' and that was a refreshing site to see. Even when in small family or club team groups the athletes and families all kept their masks on.
- Having races spread out by 90 minutes was more than enough time to clear out the park(s) and allow for spectators to be a part of the event... we expect more of this but closer to 60 minutes for future events as nearly everyone left 10-15 minutes after any given race.
- There is a strong desire to run and compete but also to keep things safe and COVID-19 compliant. That was very evident by every meet official and spectator we saw.