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“You’ll get your medal, T-shirt and some swag from our partners. We think it’s a fun thing to do. As runners, we all need to connect to that in whatever way we possibly can. If we can’t offer our events on May 23rd and 24th, we owe it to the community to be able to offer some way to activate that. What a way to clear your head, what a great way to get out and get some fresh air. It’s more important now than ever.

“I know it’s difficult for some people to grasp the idea of what a virtual event is. Certainly in the running community, that concept has taken incredible hold over the past few weeks. We’re pushing forward with this event not as something that’s a poor substitute, but something we really think is valuable to our participants. Families are going to be in a different place emotionally and physically when get to the spring of 2021, so, having this be a celebration, I think nothing could be better than that.”

Participants who were using this year’s event to fundraise are encouraged to continue to promote their favourite causes through the virtual race and to use the hashtag #ScotiaCharityChallenge until Aug. 31.

“One of the pillars of going forward with the virtual event is to be able to keep pushing our Scotiabank Charity Challenge forward,” Fraser said. “We raise an enormous amount of money. Having the ability to be able to still activate that is really important for our community.”

Photo by Patrick Doyle / Postmedia

Race Weekend attracted more than 30,000 participants a year ago, so pushing it off the 2020 calendar was an extremely difficult decision.

“Of course we’re concerned about what people’s perception is and how that impacts 2021 and beyond,” Fraser said. “But the reality is we’ve got to be able to make it to 2021. A full refund to participants is just not something we’re capable of doing.”

For more information online, go to www.runottawa.ca.