Sports

Burlingame Runner Surprised by Healdsburg Race Cancellation After Boston Marathon Explosions

Organizers say the Boston Marathon bombings motivated them to cancel the Grapes of Rock Half Marathon, which had several underlying issues.

Tessa Baer was looking forward to participating in the Grapes of Rock Half Marathon that was slated to start in Healdsburg on June 8.

But her weeks of preparing for the marathon in her hometown of Burlingame were set aside after news broke that the event organizers, Project Sport, cancelled the event. Baer, 38, a marketing and event manager at Core Logic, was taken aback when she received an e-mail Wednesday afternoon informing her that the race was off.

She was excited about it, and even planned on spending the whole weekend in Healdsburg for the event.

Find out what's happening in Burlingame-Hillsboroughwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"It was really odd," Baer told Patch Wednesday. "They said it's hurt the sport and isn't worth the risk due to (unstated) what happened in Boston. There are so many races - not sure why this one would be cancelled." 

But the organizers of the event say that the bombings that occurred near the finish line of the Boston Marathon played a minor role in the cancellation of Grapes of Rock.

Find out what's happening in Burlingame-Hillsboroughwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“Boston did not have anything to do with our cancellation or, if anything, it was a motivator,” wrote Ryan Chamberlain, Project Sport's Vice President of Event, in an e-mail to Patch. “The fate of our event began to become clear a few weeks ago, and we had been working overtime to try to clear the hurdles we faced.

"Boston happened at the very moment we came to the realization it wouldn't work. We had a fleeting, immediate sense that ‘now we HAVE to make this work,’ but then came back to reality. We deliberated waiting until the Boston news had passed some, but again realized we needed to move forward and notify our community now. It made it worse to have to announce in that moment, but it had to be done.”

News of the cancellation came by way of an e-mail to registered users and an announcement on the event’s web site.

The Grapes of Rock Half Marathon was set to bring 5,000 runners to Healdsburg to participate in a 13.1-mile course capped off by a rock concert headlined by former Poison frontman Bret Michaels. Proceeds from the event would have benefited the Santa Rosa chapter of the Salvation Army.

But organizers said that the marathon and concert ran into significant logistical and economic challenges that prevented them from hosting the event. 

“Our biggest obstacle was finding a location where everything could be in one place: the parking, the starting line, the finish line, and the concert/festival,” Chamberlain wrote. “Once those are separated, they each come with their own set of issues. We aimed to do something very big in a very quaint community.

"It would have been beautiful, exciting, fun and most importantly, it would have been a financial and awareness boom for the Salvation Army. But we couldn't manage to wedge the right resources into the right places.” 

Almost as soon as the news broke, many in the running community took to social media to express their thoughts.

“A terrorist’s objective is to create terror, by canceling this race, they have completed their objecting,” wrote Michael Court, on Facebook.

Another Facebook user Amanda Friedl Tomczyk wrote: “I may be speaking presumptuously for runners and for Boston, but we should  run on, not let this tragedy destroy the things we love. Because if we do, they won right?”

Twitter users also weighed in.

Beverly, who goes by @BeverlyEBM21h, tweeted “I'm really disappointed and heartbroken that my upcoming race (Grapes of Rock Half Marathon) is cancelled. #CRYING

Katherine Blyleven, whose handle is @katbly18h, tweeted “Bummed...just received notice that the Grapes of Rock half marathon has been cancelled!! #grapesofrock

Runners such as Baer say the bombings have not deterred them from the sport they love.

"It’s definitely made me more apprehensive about it, but I'm not going to stop running because of it," she said.

“The response from runners has been overwhelmingly supportive,” Chamberlain said. “They are disappointed, deflated, and sad...but are sharing that with us, not throwing it at us. I am truly amazed and have new faith in humanity. We have been organizing events like this for over a decade, and occasionally things get messed up … everyone else has been immensely supportive, some in asking questions, but many just contacting us to say ‘Hang in there. Thanks for trying. We understand.’ We love our people, and they have all reminded us why we go through the trouble of trying events like this."

As for Baer she said she will be looking for the next marathon to run in.

"I’m also wondering how many other races are going to be cancelled?" she said.

Stay Patched in! Follow Burlingame-Hillsborough Patch on Facebook and Twitter. Sign up for the daily newsletters.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here