Little River Canyon Half Marathon
Dear Canyon Half Marathon runners,
After considerable discussion and deliberation, I've made the difficult decision to cancel the Canyon Half Marathon and Salamander Sprint scheduled for October 12th.
As of today, we have only 34 registrants whereas in the past at this time we’ve averaged two to three times that many. Even with an increased marketing effort, we went from 110 sign ups in 2022 to only 57 in 2023.
Not to over-explain but T-shirt and trophy orders would need to be filed by today and our revenue doesn't get close to covering those costs, not to mention the added cost of porta-potties, food, bibbs and our chip-timing contract. More significantly the number of people from the Alabama Highway Patrol, Fort Payne Police, Dekalb County Sheriff, local EMA, National Park Service, and Jacksonville State University Canyon Center staff and volunteers exceed the number of participants.
We’d really like your feedback as to why this has happened. Have other half marathons experienced similar declines? Please let us know your thoughts.
We so appreciate your interest and hope that you understand our situation.
Reimbursements will be available for all that registered through Active.com, after we submit to them our final payments. We’ve never had to do the before so please be patient as we move ahead. All of you will be receiving following-up notifications and reimbursement instructions.
Thanks again for your interest and while JSU won’t be involved, the beautiful and challenging course is aways available for runners.
Stay tuned…
Pete Conroy
Canyon Center Race Director
September 26, 2024
