Unless it's for a charity, I would expect a refund. I certainly wouldn't expect to have to pay *again*, that's ridiculous.

I'm sure you could sue if you were so inclined. You paid for a service not rendered.

jono

I know that 'every race' Ive done has a warning of 'No refunds do to cancelation" "Event my be cancled at RD's discression if blah blah blah becomes unsafe for athletes" Its just something that we have to manage as part of the what could happen aspect of our sport. I dont think the company doing the race is really in it to just get sign ups and then cancel at the last moment so they dont have to do the event but keep your money. It may be canceled just before the start becuase the RD is giving every possible moment available for the best outcome for those participating but there comes a time when you just have to pull the plug. Sorry about your race....

When we sign up, most races have a clause saying that if it is canceled for reasons out of their control it is just part of life. And that is just the way it goes -- they have already paid for things, and they will have to repurchase those things if they are able to reschedule. Plus rescheduling means doing a lot of the work over again (permits, promotion so that locals know about road closures, etc).

I do not know the policies for concerts, ballgames, etc but it seems the expenses there are different in that they don't effectively close down a city for the day, and food and beverages can be used at the next event and not just have to be donated to a shelter (like I heard the Pasadena marathon did with all the aid station and finish line food).

The Pasadena Marathon waited as long as possible before canceling, but really did need to. Not only because the air quality was really really bad from the fires (and being sponsored by a hospital and encouraging running in that would have just been dumb), but the safety personal that would be on the course might be needed to go help at the nearby fires. Those fires weren't really forest fires, but were in the wilderness around homes and did take a number of people's homes. Firefighters and polices from all over the area were working extra shifts just to cover that -- I understand the city having priorities on keeping those not on the lines somewhat rested instead of out working on a race, which is just for fun (for 99% of the people out there).

It is nice that in setting the new date they did try to listen to where there was a good spot, and picked near the spot the LA marathon moved from so that people targeting that race still had one to do. I think it is great that they gave the 50%. Sure, 100% would be nice, but if we want the race to stay around they can't go bankrupt the first year. This really was something out of the hands of the race, and is one of those "acts of nature" that sometimes just requires a sacrifice.

[quote=kylie]When we sign up, most races have a clause saying that if it is canceled for reasons out of their control it is just part of life. And that is just the way it goes -- they have already paid for things, and they will have to repurchase those things if they are able to reschedule. Plus rescheduling means doing a lot of the work over again (permits, promotion so that locals know about road closures, etc).

I do not know the policies for concerts, ballgames, etc but it seems the expenses there are different in that they don't effectively close down a city for the day, and food and beverages can be used at the next event and not just have to be donated to a shelter (like I heard the Pasadena marathon did with all the aid station and finish line food).

The Pasadena Marathon waited as long as possible before canceling, but really did need to. Not only because the air quality was really really bad from the fires (and being sponsored by a hospital and encouraging running in that would have just been dumb), but the safety personal that would be on the course might be needed to go help at the nearby fires. Those fires weren't really forest fires, but were in the wilderness around homes and did take a number of people's homes. Firefighters and polices from all over the area were working extra shifts just to cover that -- I understand the city having priorities on keeping those not on the lines somewhat rested instead of out working on a race, which is just for fun (for 99% of the people out there).

It is nice that in setting the new date they did try to listen to where there was a good spot, and picked near the spot the LA marathon moved from so that people targeting that race still had one to do. I think it is great that they gave the 50%. Sure, 100% would be nice, but if we want the race to stay around they can't go bankrupt the first year. This really was something out of the hands of the race, and is one of those "acts of nature" that sometimes just requires a sacrifice. [/quote]

I agree if they state their policy to begin with then it is 'Caveat emptor'
If they don't then it could be a problem.
If they had that policy and were giving the 50% discount that isn't too bad.
It still sucks you couldn't do the race.

I was in 9 laps of 12 in a 50k this summer and I felt great and I was expecting a PR and the race was cancelled because of lightning strikes in the park it was held at. The Park was closing and forced the shut down.

I was more disapointed that I couldn't finish than the money.

I would rather pay a few extra bucks up front in the entry fee to cover the race cancellation insurance, and maybe a small non-refundable deposit as well, than to be out the money completely.

It has to suck to be the RD in this kind of situation.
You know he had to feel like crap making that decision even if it was for the best.

[quote=beads1985]
I was in 9 laps of 12 in a 50k this summer and I felt great and I was expecting a PR and the race was cancelled because of lightning strikes in the park it was held at. The Park was closing and forced the shut down.

I was more disapointed that I couldn't finish than the money.

[/quote]

OUCH! That is the worst cancellation story I've every heard.

I would also be most frustrated by not being able to start and/or finish, but also the amount of training and travel put into it. Cancel a 5k down the street? Meh. Cancel a marathon and/or one you have to travel to? Sucks. And BTW, the "half-price discount" is out of line. In reality, you are paying a 50% [b]premium[/b] since you already paid once and then are asked to pay again. No. Thanks.

[quote=beads1985]I would rather pay a few extra bucks up front in the entry fee to cover the race cancellation insurance, and maybe a small non-refundable deposit as well, than to be out the money completely.

It has to suck to be the RD in this kind of situation.
You know he had to feel like crap making that decision even if it was for the best.[/quote]

If they don't have insurance, I'll bet the RD feels tremendous pressure to go ahead with an event, even if they don't think it's right...

I'm with you: I'd rather pay insurance and protect both the race and participants.

jono

Event insurance like that would be a cool thing for RDs to have. I wonder if such a thing is commonly used. I'm sure it must exist.

It exists... google gave me a few hits:

Linkie

Linkie #2

etc...

I'm sure it costs a few bucks, but they're already buying liability insurance... just pass it on to the competitors, everyone's protected, done.

jono

[quote=jnrice][quote=beads1985]
I was in 9 laps of 12 in a 50k this summer and I felt great and I was expecting a PR and the race was cancelled because of lightning strikes in the park it was held at. The Park was closing and forced the shut down.

I was more disapointed that I couldn't finish than the money.

[/quote]

OUCH! That is the worst cancellation story I've every heard. [/quote]

I was ready to run the last 3 laps on my own and the park rangers were ushering everybody out of the park.
I felt great so I was annoyed.

I raced an ultra-distance relay this summer. Due to bad weather, we got held up at the start of stage 36 of 36 due to bad weather. Luckily, they let us go or about half the teams wouldn't have finished. I think there may have been a riot in that case if all those teams put in 30+ hours and then had to quit 6 miles from the finish. It was one heck of a rain storm our last man got to run through though.

As to race cancellations, I did a sprint a few years back that turned into a 5k after the RD mulled over the safety issues with lightening, wet roads, and permit timing. It sucked, but I was happy to see they tried to salvage as much as they could out of the deal. What I couldn't figure out was why some people who'd showed up left; complaining about how that wasn't what they signed up for. If you're there, why not race.

Braden

FWIW-

The race was/is/will be put on by a non-profit named "Pasadena Forward" whose stated purpose is supporting social programs for the needy and disadvantaged. This being the inaugural race, they had no treasury to pull from to make up any difference.

I spoke with the race director face to face a little while ago and I could tell he took it really hard not only what happened with the race after all the hard work, but also the frustration of people who signed up the first time and then had to pay something again for the rescheduled race. It seemed that he felt his hands were tied in that they needed some funds to be able to hold the race since the cancellation set them back huge amounts into the red.

My wife and I had signed up for the "Founders Club" before the race was ever approved by the city; essentially donating money to the race and charity.

Hope that helps,

Kevin