Carl Reiner once said "A lot of people
like snow. I find it to be an unnecessary freezing of water".
That's how many of us at the Parkway
Running Club felt as we woke up on Sunday morning and looked out our
windows. As we saw the near white-out snow conditions, we realized
that as much as we didn't want to, we had to cancel this year's
Walter's Run 5k.
In the 14 years that we've hosted the
race, this was the first year that weather forced us to cancel the
event… not bad for a December race in Boston. Although it was a huge
disappointment to do this, we felt that due to transportation
difficulties and safety for the runners it was the only decision we
could make.
Proceeds for Walter's run will still go
to the three great charities that we chosen to support each year…
Globe Santa which was Walter's favorite charity, the YMCA Reach Out
Program and the Walter Burgess Scholarship Fund which helps send youth
of need to running camp each year.
Unfortunately for a race as small as
Walter’s Run, there are too many logistical hurdles to reschedule the
race. That said, we still want to provide our pre-registered runners
all the amenities that were promised. So we would like to offer the
following.
- A invite to the Parkway Running
Club New Year's Resolution Run – This is not a race but a "Fun
Run" put on by the PRC for the PRC. This event will be held on New
Years Day at the YMCA (15 Bellevue Street in West Roxbury) starting
at 10am. Come join us for a 3-5 mile run covering much of the
Walter's Run course and then afterward for food, conversation and
lots of frivolity and fun! Admission for pre-registered Walter's Run
racers is FREE.
- Your gloves/mittens – As we
advertised, the first 150 runners who registered will receive race
gloves or mittens. That means you! We still want to offer that. We
will have them available at the Resolution Run or you can pick them
up before our Saturday morning runs during the month of January. Our
runs begin at 8:30 at the YMCA and if you'd like, come join us on
our run!
- Raffle and Race number prizes
– Many local businesses supported Walter's Run by donating prizes to
be used for runner giveaways. In lieu of this, we will draw names of
pre-registered runners and send those winners one of our many raffle
prizes. Keep your eyes on your mailboxes as you might be winning
something from this year's Walter's Run!
- Water bottles - we also have
a limited number of promotional water bottles available for Walter’s
Run pre-registered runners, available on a first come, first serve
basis.
Once again we are extremely sad we
needed to cancel something that has become an incredible holiday
tradition both for our West Roxbury neighborhood and the Eastern
Massachusetts running community. We will run the race next year. We
hope to see you on New Years Day Resolution run as well as future
Walter's Run races. Any questions or comments please
contact us via email or
call the YMCA and leave us a message at 617-323-3200 x412.
Thank you.
The Parkway Running Club
The Walter's Run race committee
