Last Sunday, the 27th Great Train Race was held as an in-person event in downtown Fredericksburg. The event included three races, one mile, half-mile, and quarter-mile runs for kids 18 years old and younger.
Runners were able to run the event virtually and, in that case, not compete for awards.
There were 770 registered runners. That was down from previous years, with COVID concerns impacting the numbers.
During the race planning stages, working within COVID restrictions was essential. One requirement was a cap of 1000 in-person runners. As the impact of COVID has subsided, we could have raised the limit. However, the advertising and logistics for 1000 runners were already in place.
Pushing the race one month to the first Sunday in June helped with the organization. However, the weather conditions in June made for a hotter race.
Because of the Chatham Bridge closing, we could not use Caroline Street and had to stay contained on Sophia Street. In past years, we needed to remain south of William Street to not block traffic on Route 3, leaving the city on the Chatham Bridge. That restriction was not a concern.
The initial planning for the in-person race started in January. At that time, strict COVID procedures were in place with limited access to a COVID vaccine. That plan had one runner starting every 10 seconds with no more than 25 runners every 5 minutes. The start and finish areas were in two different locations in the city to reduce a large gathering of people, and there would be no pre-race packet pickup nor post-race awards ceremony. We could hand out shirts to finishers along with their medal.
As spring progressed, vaccination numbers increased, and COVID restrictions decreased. We added an option to run in 25 person waves to the event, and eventually, we dropped the individual time trial format. By race day, the state lifted most mask mandates. Race organizers wanted volunteers to wear masks or social distance.
We ended up with about 350 one mile, 170 half-mile, and 180 caboose runners. The turnout was the largest mass participation event in Fredericksburg since March 2020.
Hopefully, the pandemic is behind us, and the 2022 Great Train Race can return to the previous format to help more kids stay active.