(Pandemic Diary - day 30)

From my journal: 28 March 2020 (Saturday)

That seems to be my (our) main activity right now, and the underlying tone of almost everything. What’s coming next? How is this going to turn out? I can have the best intentions for letting go of these things that I can’t control, and yet I end up right back there online, grasping for some glimpse of an answer to those questions.

…

There’s the uncertainty of how it will go with Renee’s business, and there’s the underlying anxiety about who among our family and friends and acquaintances will get this disease and die (or be damaged) from it, and similar anxiety over what our inevitable personal encounters with the virus will be like.

And then, below that on the scale of significance, but still a source of anxiety and angst, is the fate of Eastern States for the year.

We are meeting (virtually) tomorrow to talk about that, and I doubt we’ll be able to alleviate any of the uncertainty. At this point, cancellation feels inevitable, and calling it now would allow us all to stay focused on the other things we’re trying to keep together.

But this is important enough to enough people that at this point it’s still worth doing the planning and preparations, keeping the option open on the chance we’ll be able to hold the event.

And if we’re able to hold it, holding it could be a really big deal.

If we can hold it, it’s likely to be one of the first post-lockdown events, and the mood surrounding it would likely be even more intense than usual.

That’s a reason to hold on to the possibility for as long as we can.

Originally published to Facebook on 27 March 2020 (Friday)

My response to Candice Burt’s post on the Bigfoot 200 group page, where she explained her approach to race cancellation decisions:

Very well said, and the only responsible answer right now — thank you.

Our Eastern States 100 board and race committee will meet (online) this weekend to discuss these same challenges that so many other races around the country and world are facing — how do we plan a safe and responsible event that may or may not happen, what are our criteria and timeline for decisions, and how do we handle a cancelation if that is necessary.

I think the primary things we owe our runners are knowledgeable decisions made in good faith, with transparency and fairness.  I hope that in return, our runners give us patience and understanding.  I expect that we are a resilient community of exceptional humans who realize that what we do transcends any particular event or year.  I expect we’ll run our way right through this, and we’ll be alright on the other side.