COVID-19 UPDATE: May 27, 2020
Due to the pandemic, mass gatherings locally have been cancelled through no earlier than June 26, the first possible day of Phase 4 of NY's reopening be based on public statements from authority figures. Clearly, that is after our first race. As a result, rather than trying to plan around a moving target (rescheduling it or going virtual for part of the series and physical for the rest), which isn't fun for race directors, sponsors, or racers, we made the difficult decision to convert the entire series to virtual for 2020. However, before the new virtual link is created, those who choose to sign up through this page and opt to NOT get a refund will be rewarded with not only whatever race(s) they paid for here, but ALSO the matching 2021 in-person race. And we've got some fun things planned for the virtual, marrying the concepts of on-you-own and on-location as well as the concepts of the original race and this new virtual format.
Things to look forward to for the converted series: medal, race top, food-themed swag, opportunities to earn points that get you more swag and chances to win random prizes, and even a race-specific recipe contest with non-vegan and vegan categories! So, sign up here through May 31 and get more for your money as a thank you for sticking with us! After that, the virtual link will go live and registration here will be closed. Those signing up for the virtual on or after June 1 will not get the special early adopter offer.
Obatron Productions' exercise arm, Obatron Fitness, is proud to introduce a new race series, West of the River Series, about three years in the making. Enter the whole series or choose individual races. Medals awarded to all finishers at all races. Series participants get a gift. Walker friendly. Diet sensitive. Training available (discounted from normal pricing and even more when training for two or all three with us)!
Sunday, June 21 (Father's Day), 9 a.m. - June Jaunt, 5K, Hilton, NY; Charity Beneficiary: Hilton Emergency Food Shelf; Special Food Feature: Frozen Custard and Frozen Fruit; Shirt Cutoff: May 29; Race Cutoff: 1 hour
Sunday, September 6 (Labor Day Weekend), 8 a.m. - The Potato Run, 10K, Greece, NY; Charity Beneficiary: Greece Ecumenical Food Shelf; Special Food Feature: Salt Potato Bar; Shirt Cutoff: August 12; Cutoff: 2 hours, 15 minutes
Sunday, November 1 (Daylight Savings Time Ends), 9 a.m. - Barbecue Bash Half, Half Marathon (13.1 miles), Spencerport, NY; Charity Beneficiary: Spencerport Ecumenical Food Shelf; Special Food Feature: Barbecue; Shirt Cutoff: October 9; Cutoff: 4 hours, 30 minutes
Registration for or upgrading to the whole series must be done before starting the June Jaunt. Even if you do all three races, you won't get the gift or be in the series standings if you didn't sign up for the series due to administrative logistics of tracking participants.
You might have surmised there is an emphasis on food! I grew up hungry until I could earn money myself to buy food, and while my company, Obatron Fitness, isn't a non-profit, each race will include three charitable components: 1) fundraising drive via registration for each host town's food program for those in need; 2) a food drive for the same organization on race day; and 3) a percentage of proceeds after expenses are covered will be donated to the organization.
Volunteer slots for the week of each race day will be added later.
Discount Offers & Referrals
Entering the series rather than individual races gets you pricing equal to or less than the total of the individual race fees (depending upon when you register), a lower RunSignUp fee than the sum of the fees when registering separately, and a series gift. The training offered through the series registration page is at a much reduced price including bonus workouts not normally offered with Obatron Fitness group training. If you are a member of GRTC or Obatron Fitness, you get a discount at checkout for that. Additionally, you may earn back some of your registration by having other racers use your personal referral link, generated after you register. See the "Referrals" section for more information.
Awards and Swag
As the number of people who register for the series or individual races grows, so too will the amenities, known as awards and swag. There will be prizes for the top three overall male and female winners of each race and for the series. As the numbers of participants increase, we'll add award categories starting with 1st in M/F 10-year age groups and potentially expanding to 1st through 3rd in M/F 5-year age groups.
Likewise, as we get enough participants, the shirts will be automatically upgraded to tech tees from cotton followed by medals being upgraded fun to impressive. And the more sponsors and participants we get, the more goodies we can put in your packet at pick-up.
Series Scoring and Qualifications
The races are all chip timed by Robin Hood Racing. You will get a different bib for each race just as non-series participants will so that the timing company can accurately capture your progress through the series. Points will be explained in a separate tab before the series begins. You must register for or upgrade to the series before registration is over on June 21 in order to be listed in the standings. If you end up racing all three races, but did not register for the series, you will not be in the series standings and will not be eligible for prizes regardless of how well you do. It's too much hassle to deal with the unknown of how many people that could be when we have a perfectly good Series button on the registration page that even gets you a gift!
Gender Designations
We recognize there are those who would rather not pick male or female when asked to choose. Unfortunately, we've not seen a way to provide other options within that field's parameters. As such, we ask your understanding that we are limited by the nature of registration tools and finite resources rather than disregarding anyone's preferences in how they are addressed or define themselves.
Additional Details
I will post additional details as they are finalized. Any changes will be updated here, on Facebook, and communicated through RunSignUp messaging.
If you have any questions about this event, click the button below.
Following this statement, you'll find several topics. A short list of contents follows so you can see what's next if you don't want to read the whole thing, which contains a copy of the message sent to participants who were registered before May 27, 2020 (Ch, ch, ch, ch, changes!). Reading the whole thing is highly recommended so you know have just about any question answered that you could want to ask.
Explanatory Information; Thank You; Where Does this Leave the Series; 2020 Virtual Race Dates; 2021 Finalized and Tentative Race Dates; What's the Virtual Race Experience Going to be Like?; Other Questions You're Surely Wondering Now!
Due to the pandemic, mass gatherings locally have been cancelled through no earlier than June 26, the first possible day of Phase 4 of NY's reopening be based on public statements from authority figures. Clearly, that is after our first race. As a result, rather than trying to plan around a moving target (rescheduling it or going virtual for part of the series and physical for the rest), which isn't fun for race directors, sponsors, or racers, we made the difficult decision to convert the entire series to virtual for 2020. However, before the new virtual link is created, those who choose to sign up through this page and opt to NOT get a refund will be rewarded with not only whatever race(s) they paid for here, but ALSO the matching 2021 in-person race. And we've got some fun things planned for the virtual, marrying the concepts of on-you-own and on-location as well as the concepts of the original race and this new virtual format.
Things to look forward to for the converted series: medal, race top, food-themed swag, opportunities to earn points that get you more swag and chances to win random prizes, and even a race-specific recipe contest with non-vegan and vegan categories! So, sign up here through May 31 and get more for your money as a thank you for sticking with us! After that, the virtual link will go live and registration here will be closed. Those signing up for the virtual on or after June 1 will not get the special early adopter offer.
First off, thank you for taking the plunge and signing up for either the whole West of the River Series or for one of its races individually. Back in mid-March, when local officials abruptly cancelled all mass gatherings, including Runnin' of the Green and the St. Patrick's Day Parade, I knew we were in for a bumpy ride. I also knew I couldn't do much more on planning for the series without having more information.
Like you, I waited for each new tidbit of news. What's going to happen next? What effect will it have on things that are important to me? What can I do as things change? Unfortunately, it became a stressful game of Wait and See. Planning had necessarily ceased as working around a moving target isn't fun for race directors, sponsors, or racers. At long last, the grim picture of what any kind NYS reopening would look like started coming together and anything resembling recreation would be last, likely at the end of June at the earliest. Even then, it wasn't clear how anything that would be a mass gathering (indoor or outdoor) fit in or what those hosting them would have to do to comply with any new mandates. As of now, there still isn't any firm direction locally or elsewise for those.
Due to the fact that NYS's Phase 4 (where races would be) cannot happen before June 26 at the absolute earliest from all public reporting, the folks in Hilton let me know they couldn't honor my reservation and offered me the choice to reschedule for 2021. So, SAVE THE DATE! June Jaunt 2021 will be on Sunday, June 27, 2021. And if you are registered for the series or June Jaunt, you will be automatically deferred to that race AND you get this year's virtual race. That's right! You are getting TWO FOR ONE!
I mulled over my options with my sounding board (several people who volunteered to give me feedback when planning this race series). My choices were to make only June Jaunt virtual, hope we're back to normal enough by September to do a race the way we have prior to March, and keep plugging away for November; figure out a contingency plan should The Potato Run have to go virtual; call it now and make it all virtual so people know what's what; or cancel. Well, cancelling was NEVER an option in my mind. So, it's all going virtual. And you're getting more time!
June Jaunt: Complete it any time on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, June 19-21, 2020
The Potato Run: Complete it any time on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, September 4-6, 2020
Barbecue Bash Half: Complete it any time on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, October 30-November 1, 2020
June Jaunt: Sunday, June 27, 2021 (That's confirmed!)
The Potato Run: Sunday, September 5, 2021
Barbecue Bash Half: Sunday, November 7, 2021
The series was always meant to be food focused, which is why we had specific food themes and chose Charity Partners who are food oriented. It was also meant to highlight the west side of Monroe County, New York. We're going to keep as much of that as possible, marrying the virtual race and in-person race concepts.
For June Jaunt, Abbott's of Hilton is going to be a Collection Point Sponsor for our efforts to provide physical goods to the Hilton Food Shelf. For The Potato Run, Sunscape Farms is our Premier Sponsor, providing coupons for a free quart of potatoes to our racers from the Greece location. We're still seeking additional sponsors at our host towns to encourage exploration of the businesses and communities that reside there.
Also in keeping with the food focus, we are having a recipe contest for each race. Categories will be vegan and non-vegan. Participants will get a chance to vote on their favorite submissions. Those who submitted the most popular recipes will get a reward for their efforts. Once the winners are chosen, we're compiling all submissions into a recipe book and providing a PDF for all racers.
Since we won't have speed-based awards, we're going to provide people with opportunities to earn points for surprise goodies. Examples of point-earning activities: (Need to join the West of the River Facebook page to earn post points) submit a recipe to the contest, post pictures you've taken in the host towns, post your pre-race "flat racer" picture, post your course, submit your time (just because there's not an award doesn't mean we don't want to acknowledge time efforts), race in costume, etc. There will be more!
Races don't seem quite the same without bibs, and thanks to RunSignUp, you will be able to print one for your race! Guess what might be another way to earn points. To add to the fun, we're looking at how to make RaceJoy work for virtual races with no pre-designated course so your friends and family can send you cheers while you're out doing your best.
After each virtual race, you'll be mailed your medal, shirt, additional swag, and any prizes you might have earned or won. If you want them faster and are local, we might be able to arrange that, but no promises! Series participants will also be mailed their series gifts.
Yes. Follow the instructions in this video to transfer from whatever you paid for to the series: https://help.runsignup.com/support/solutions/articles/17000062922-transfer-to-another-event. You'll be charged accordingly. If you want to do that, do it now! The offer is good only for those who are registered before the virtual race link goes live, tentatively May 26, 2020. Once that's live, the original race registration page will be closed to new registrations. I will handle transferring you to the virtual race on your behalf.
No. That's more work than I want to do.
I'd really rather you didn't it's meant to be a thank you for your early commitment to this race, but when the time comes, I intend to have all the same options for transfers as I originally set up here.
Originally, no refunds were to be offered. However, I never envisioned a life-changing pandemic, so I enabled refunds. Unless RunSignUp gives it to you, you won't get the fee they charged for processing, but you'd get the fee we charged for the race. You won't get your donation back as that's for the entity you chose, if any. I hope you don't take the refund option. I want you to have fun with this opportunity and to bring others into it, too! That's why I am giving you next year, too. Any refunds must be requested before June 1, 2020.
If you refer a participant using your personalized referral link, you will get a portion of your registration back and my appreciation! Here's the breakdown of possible referral rebates:
Series Referral: $10.00/person (Max $40.00)
Referral: $1.50/person (Max $6)
Training Referral: $2.00 (Max $6)
Referral: $2.00/person
Training Referral: $2.00/person (Max $6)
Race Referral: $4.00/person (Max $
Training Referral: $3/person (Max $9)
If a race or race training is cancelled by the organizers, you will be refunded the registration fee, but not the fee RunSignUp charges to process the initial payment. This provision has been made in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Furthermore, race training registrants are only eligible for a refund if the race for which they would like training is cancelled before training begins. In the event that training has already started and the corresponding race was subsequently cancelled, registrants will not be eligible for refund, but a virtual race will be offered as a graduation race with a digital certificate of completion sent via email to those who submit their times and routes.
Because this is a debut series and there's no way to know if it will be an annual event, no deferrals are offered. We'd love to think there will be, but although the RD is an optimist, she's also a realist.
Transfers are permitted at NO charge if done seven or more days before the race. However, deferrals done after the T-shirt cutoff cannot be adjusted for shirts. That means whatever the original registrant ordered is what the new person will get. For safety's sake and in fairness to other racers, please do not give away your bib seeing as we have a transfer mechanism in place! If you need to transfer seven or fewer days before the race, contact us. We'll see what we can do.
In light of the COVID-19 Pandemic, we have enabled insurance as an option. Although we've tried to get more information on exactly what the other "covered events" are in the insurance company's list of reasons that you can make a claim, we were unsuccessful. However, since now there's a much bigger chance than ever that people may sign up for the race and have something derail their plans, we've put it out there for your own piece of mind. The link for questions once you're ready to check out is https://www.eventticketprotection.com/allianzticket/home. You can look at it in advance to find out what makes sense for you. If you so desire, you can choose the insurance at check-out.
Locations vary by race and training session. All are on the west side of Monroe County, NY. Location schedule will be provided via e-mail before the start of each training program.
June Jaunt: Jennejahn Lodge, 225 West Ave, Hilton, NY 14468
The lodge is in "Village Park," which is at the rear of Hilton Quest School.
The Potato Run: Millennium Lodge, Greece Canal Park, 241 Elmgrove Rd., Rochester, NY 14626
The lodge is at the end of the entrance off of Elmgrove.
Barbecue Bash Half: Boetcher Lodge, Pineway Ponds Park, 99 Park Rd, Spencerport, NY 14559
The lodge is at the end of the entrance road.
Alternate Site: Terry Taylor Elementary School, 399 Ogden Parma Town Line Rd, Spencerport, NY 14559
Training: Various Greece Area Locations (Exact schedule sent in accordance with sign-up information.)
Three races means three courses! Following are the planned routes. When you're introducing not just one race, but a whole series of them, it stands to reason as we get closer to race day that something unexpected might cause an alteration. If that happens, I'll update here, via e-mail, and through the Facebook events. (There's one for each race and for the series itself.)
June Jaunt (5K): https://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/2488553404
The Potato Run (10K): https://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/1494043075
Barbecue Bash Half (13.1 Miles): https://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/2725817980
Registration for training sessions closes before each session starts. However, if there is space, we are willing to reopen it with the understanding that if you sign up for a training session that is in progress, there is no reduction in price for missed workouts. Similarly, there is no rebate or deferral for missed workouts even if you started as scheduled.
Ordinarily, the training sessions offered as race specials here do not include weekday workouts. In addition to the already reduced price, training sessions offered through the race page include bonus Tuesday night workouts. All three sessions include days for which there will be no group meeting. Be sure to read the text fully before signing up.
The training programs are designed and led by Vickey A. Beaver. She is certified by Athletics and Fitness Association of America for Group Exercise Instruction and by Road Runners Club of America as a Running Coach, so you are getting someone who is serious about helping others. Having been an avid walker for years, she got out of the habit of exercising altogether and didn't find her way back to it until mid-2010. Starting with just a couple of miles around a local mall by herself, a year later, she was meeting different friends there and elsewhere five days a week at varying speeds and distances, as they joined her on her training journey to walk the December 2011 Honolulu Marathon. One thing led to another and she has embraced exercise again for very different reasons than when she was first active. Now she enjoys it for how it makes her feel, the community she's become part of, and the short- and long-term health benefits she sees in her health exams and assessments.
While not a non-profit, we want to take this opportunity to give back to the towns that are hosting our races. As walkers and runners, we know the importance of food to fuel our bodies to enable us to do our best. It's in that spirit that we invite you to contribute via the donation option upon registering or to bring one or more items from each organization's needs list to the race with you. We will do our best to provide the latest needs as we get closer.
URGENT NEEDS
ADDITIONAL NEEDS
Greece Ecumenical Food Shelf
Spencerport Cartons for Christmas
As Robin Hood Racing is timing the series, packet pick-up will be available at Rochester Running Company prior to the race. Exact time and date to be announced as we get closer. Race day packet pick-up is also available 45 minutes prior to each race.
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