Before this year, the idea of doing a virtual race was foreign to most people, and honestly kind of stupid to most runners like myself. Why would I pay money to go for basically a training run? There are no perks: no water stations, no competition, nothing to get your adrenaline pumping. You are basically paying for a medal for a run you may or may not even complete. But in 2020 as we all know too well, nothing is normal, and so became the year of the virtual race.
The races that I mark on the calendar 8 months out, and the race weekends that I look forward to above all others are of course the runDisney weekends. On Friday, we all got word that yet another race weekend has gone virtual – Star Wars Rival Run Weekend of April 2021. Like the past 4 runDisney events to be called off, when I heard the news I was mad, sad, disappointed, you name it. These are the weekends that keep me motivated and what I work towards. Having to scratch one more event from the calendar, now far into 2021, is really just heart breaking at this point. Beyond that, now it has me questioning if Dopey 2022 will even happen or when my next in person run will even be. As someone who worries and overthinks everything, it’s easy to let my thoughts and discouragement spiral and get the best of me.
Today I have to decide to stay the course (virtually), stay motivated, and stay positive. This year has brought many more challenges to so many people worse than just a few canceled race weekends. While I think I’m allowed to feel a little sad for a minute, it’s important to brush it off and keep training. For me personally, races are about a lot more than the medal, so for me, it’s not worth the money to do the virtual event, but instead I can put this money towards Dopey. In the meantime, I will keep running wherever my feet take me. As 2020 comes to an end (finally), we can look forward to the hope for more races and a better year for all.
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