The Entire Sports World Has Turned Upside Down

From my Gazette article about the Swamp Run, a summary of all going on with area road races: 

By Rick Platt

            In the final weekend before the entire sports world was turned upside down, the 19th annual Jamestown High School Swamp Run 5K had two exciting and competitive three-way battles for the top overall awards in the third Colonial Road Runners Grand Prix event of 2020.  However, due to the coronavirus pandemic, that race will be the last CRR race for an indefinite period.

            After the NBA, NHL, MLB and MLS suspended or delayed their seasons, and the NCAA cancelled the March Madness basketball tournament for both men and women, all divisions, as well as all other collegiate championship sporting events for the winter and spring seasons, it was inevitable that running events would be affected too.

            In rapid fire, many local running events were cancelled or postponed (to a date to be determined later) on Thursday afternoon or Friday morning of this week, including the CRR Grand Prix’s Virginia Fire Chiefs 5K Run, set for Saturday morning from the Bruton Parish Church on Duke of Gloucester Street, the CRR-affiliated Singletrack Maniac 50K and Cray Cray 10K, set for Freedom Park and the Hornsby Middle School on March 28th , and the CRR Grand Prix and Hampton Roads Super Grand Prix’s Victory at Yorktown 10K on April 4th. After that, for other CRR Grand Prix spring races, no decisions have yet been made. Potential postponement dates are in June, August or September.

            Beyond the CRR, Saturday’s Fort Eustis 10K, a Peninsula Track Club event, was postponed to the fall. The PTC’s H-E-A-R-T 5K, originally scheduled for April 4 from the Warhill Sports Complex in Williamsburg, has been postponed. And the biggest of them all, the Shamrock Sportsfest Marathon, half marathon and 8K, set for March 21-22 in Virginia Beach, was cancelled.