Gettysburg Blue-Gray 1/2 Marathon

How about a look at this year's race shirts? We just placed the order with Greenlayer for their super comfortable cotton-poly blend shirts that are great for running or just wearing around. They should be on their way to use before long. As we get closer to race day, we'll update you more regularly to get you excited for race day which is just over a month away now! And if you haven't signed up yet, don't wait too long. The marathon is now 71% full, the half is 73% full, and the 5K is 48% full. https://runsignup.com//Gettysburg/GettysburgFestivalofRaces is where you can sign up if you haven't yet.

Good news for our participants coming from outside Pennsylvania! Effective yesterday, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania removed travel restrictions (quarantine, testing, etc. requirements). You can see the full information at https://www.health.pa.gov//coronavirus/Pages/Travelers.aspx but this makes it easier to come do our event next month. We are on pace to sell out the marathon and half and maybe the 5K as well, so don't wait too long to sign up and risk missing out.

Just a quick registration update. The marathon is now 92% full and should sell out within days. If you are thinking about racing 26.2 on 4/25 don't wait too long. We will open up a wait list once the race is full. The half marathon is only 45% full and the 5K is at 36% of capacity, so you have more time for the two shorter options. You can sign up today at https://runsignup.com/Race/Register/?raceId=90486. And a second update - our online merchandise store is now ready and open. You can see the swag that we're offering at https://runsignup.com//Gettysburg/GettysburgFestivalofRaces and order before or after the race.

After hearing back from a number of people, we decided to create a virtual race option for people who don't feel comfortable racing in person or can't get to Gettysburg this April because of travel restrictions. While some people said we should focus on the in person race, we can focus on that and still offer the virtual option simultaneously. If you sign up to race virtually, you'll get the swag shipped to you - tech shirt, finisher medal, and beer glass. You can place your ...results on our virtual leaderboard (separate from the in person results) and even print out a race bib at home. Hopefully it makes for a good experience. And anyone who registers for the in person event but would rather race virtually rather than defer to 2022, we offer that option through March 31st. We will also be opening up an online store to sell merchandise before (and probably after) the event. We are still fine tuning our offering, so be patient while we set it up but expect to have jackets, long sleeve shirts, hats, glasses, and probably magnets. You will have the option of getting it shipped to you or pick up race weekend. Registration for the virtual races is open now at https://runsignup.com//Gettysburg/GettysburgFestivalofRaces and that is also where we'll add the store (hopefully by next week once we finalize items, pricing, and get pictures of them up).

Looking for some input from the running community, so please chime in - should we offer a virtual race in conjunction with this April's event? Last year we did in large part because so many things changed throughout the year and we needed that fallback option in case everything closed down again with events. This year we were so focused on the in person event that we didn't really give much thought to offering a virtual option until a couple people started to ask us recentl...y about it. On a separate note - some people have also asked about race merchandise. Normally we sold this at the expo, but no expo this past fall meant no merchandise sale. We could set up a store online and allow people to purchase items for pick up race weekend or have shipped to you. If we did that, what items would you like to see - jackets, hats, other shirts, etc?

Back in early November, we shared the news that the National Park Service was banning races in Gettysburg and there is an important update on that. We launched a petition on Change.org to have our voices heard and we were successful - in part. Thanks in part to the large response, the NPS has decided to delay the policy banning races until 2022. That means that this year's race, which will take place on April 25th, can once again travel through the beautiful East Cavalry F...ield Section of the park! What about the future of this and other races in Gettysburg? As part of their policies and procedures, the National Park Service in Gettysburg has opened up a public comment period that runs through February 17, 2021. During that time, anyone can go to https://parkplanning.nps.gov/projectHome.cfm and let their voice be heard as to whether they support the ban on races or if they feel the policy should be changed/reversed. If you have an opinion on this policy, please go to their website and add your opinion. If you already put your name on the change.org petition, you should submit with the NPS so that it is given the appropriate consideration. In a discussion with park management late last week when it was learned that the change is now delayed, park management stated that this open comment time is "not a vote." We expect that there will be a lot more people who submit comments in support of races than against them. However, park leadership is looking for meaningful reasons why races should be allowed so please be thoughtful, respectful, and thorough in any submission that you may choose to make.