From what I can gather at this time, LifeSouth, which is the main nonprofit blood donor organization here in Gainesville, isn't planning to stage their annual Five Points of Life race weekend in February any more...I hope I'm wrong. I keep checking the race calendars on the Internet and, while other races are scheduled in February, Five Points is nowhere to be seen. While waiting for me at the finish line this past February at their last half-marathon, Melissa heard one of the volunteers express that this may well be their last race. I hope it isn't so, as since 2010 I've run the Five Points Half-Marathon six different times. Before this year and last (canceled due to Covid) they also staged a 26.2-mile marathon event, something that I've played around with doing ever since I hobbled to the finish line with an IT-band injury in the only marathon race I ever ran, in 2011 in Ocala. By the way, that event, the Ocala Marathon/Half-Marathon, has already been relegated to the past...I ran one of my best half-marathons in it in 2013. I wonder if we're entering a different social climate that is more hostile toward these open, public running races...I'm guessing that there had to be a considerable expense involved in just having the police regulate traffic during the Gainesville and Ocala races, and most likely many folks were unhappy at the traffic interruptions. Also, the Covid-19 pandemic turned the public away from crowded events and many are reticent to resume things as before until it's over...which may never happen. The 10K Turkey Trot Thanksgiving run at Tacachale here in Gainesville, which I've enjoyed participating in a number of times, may be a permanent casualty of the disease. I see on Facebook where a number of informal running groups have sprung up and have runs in various locations...but I'm more of a solitary than social runner unless there's an actual race involved. The Florida Track Club is still involved with two long-distance runs: the Tom Walker Memorial Half-Marathon in November and its own marathon/half-marathon event along the Hawthorne Trail in January. Plus, there is something called the Cupcake Run that takes place along the same trail but originates from nearby Hawthorne. There are still plenty of racing opportunities, but I'll miss the Five Points half-marathon if it is truly at the end of its "run"...
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