By HPRS Race Director John Lacroix

The spread of COVID-19 (Coronavirus) has grasped the world’s attention unlike few viruses ever have. With the worldwide alarm, comes a whole host of questions related to travel and mass assemblies of people. The Human Potential Running Series has been following the virus closely, in both news reports and information gathered through WHO and the CDC. We want to speak frankly about this disease, without spreading additional panic, while also discussing steps HPRS will take in 2020 towards being proactive about the health and safety of our runners.

At this time, all of our races are planned as scheduled.
There is no plan, or even discussion, about the cancellation of any single event at HPRS in 2020.

There is no doubt that the media has taken control of the COVID-19 narrative and is loudly sounding the alarm about the virus. It has become increasingly more difficult in our world to differentiate “news” from “fear mongering” given the political and social landscape of our society. I mention this not as a way to downplay the very real concerns about the spread of this virus, but as a way to steer us all towards giving this virus the respect it deserves without spreading unnecessary fear or misinformation.

There have been 101,565 confirmed COVID-19 cases worldwide. With the current world population at an estimated 8 Billion People, the confirmed cases represent .00126% of the world’s population. There have been 3,461 reported deaths, worldwide, due to this virus. There are currently 42,000 known cases world wide, 15% (6,397) of which are considered serious or critical in condition. (https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/)

The United States has 239 total confirmed cases of the virus with 14 deaths. Of those who are dying due to this virus, a vast majority of those folks are of elder age or suffering from pre-existing conditions. Those aged 80 or older have a 22% chance of dying from the virus. This number drops to 8% at 70-79, 3.6% 60-69, and continues to drop off from there. (https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/coronavirus-age-sex-demographics/)

There have now been two “presumptive positive” cases of COVID-19 in the state of Colorado, and none in the state of Arkansas; the two states HPRS currently operates in.

At this time, all of our races are planned as scheduled. There is no plan, or even discussion, about the cancellation of any single event at HPRS in 2020. We will continue to closely monitor the developments related to the virus, and will adjust accordingly as CDC and Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) direct. To date there have been no federal, state, or county-wide directives on the cancelling or altering of large events.

We want to remind all of our runners that our cancellation policies remain in tact, and in full effect. We ask that you, as always, please familiarize yourselves with our refund and credit policies, as these will remain unchanged as well. You can access these policies by CLICKING HERE.

Here is our plan for this year’s races, until the risk of this virus diminishes:

• If you do not feel good on race day, DO NOT COME TO THE RACE. Click here for our cancellation, refund, and credit policies.
• HPRS will supply more than our usual amount of hand sanitizer at aid stations, we ask that you please use hand sanitizer before touching anything at an aid station.
• If you are adverse to using hand sanitizer, we ask that you please bring your own snacks on race day. You can carry these in your pack or leave them in drop bags.
• We will be supplying more spoons and tongs for handling of foods at aid tables.
• We’ll make sure to have more than enough gloves for our volunteers to utilize as well.
• Our races are cup-less, and we typically provide a “community cup” for use at each aid stations. We will NOT have community cups at this time, and you will be required to have your own device for drinking out of.
• Should enough volunteers be present, our volunteers will use pitchers to pour liquids into your bottles and bladders. No one will be taking your bottles from you and/or refilling them for you during this time. We ask you to remove the cap from your bottles, or handle your bladder on your own, and hold it out for a refill. We then ask you to please cap your own bottles and bladders once full.
• We ask that you all be mindful of touching your face and always wash or sanitize your hands after using the bathroom, blowing your nose, eating, sneezing, coughing, wiping lube on your parts, or touching your face.
• Aid stations are for RUNNERS ONLY. We will be strict about not allowing crews to come in and out of aid tents and/or accessing aid tables. Parents: please supervise your children at all times! Please be mindful of where your little germ factories are touching and grabbing.

We are all adults capable of making the decision to show up on race day, or not. We ask you to use good judgment, and make sound decisions for yourselves and each other. While we have every intention of hosting our entire series of races in 2020, the choice to show up or not is ultimately yours. Should you choose not to, again we ask you to familiarize yourself with our policies.

The Human Potential Running Series takes great pride in hosting intimate events by self-capping participant numbers at between 200-300 runners per event. Our runners are more than just a bib, and we take your health and safety seriously. We choose, however, to not live in fear by continuing to do what we do best. We’re providing amazing experiences for runners to come out and do good work on themselves, while also treating you like the human’s we all are. Not having thousands of runners at our events make’s it easier to justify pushing forward despite this outbreak. We recognize that other events around us may choose to cancel or postpone, which is their prerogative to do so. We’re not in their boat.

If we are required to make any changes due to future developments related to this virus, CDC or CDPHE directives, or decisions made by local governments and/or land managers; we will relay information to you as soon as a plan has been implemented. Our goal is to continue providing the unique HPRS experiences with all involved on race weekend, and have no reason at this time to alter our plans.

We wish you all good health and a happy year of running in 2020. It would be an honor and privilege of ours to serve you in our role this year. Flights are cheap all of a sudden! Join us, and let’s move mountains together.