LifeSouth's Chronic Ghosting About its "Race Weekend"

 For my daily existence following the big diagnosis, exercise into Zone One is an important activity.  However, in rocking forward and backward simultaneously on my feet, I don't think that in doing so I am making it easier to run stretches of races, such as the Parkrun 5Ks.  Only actually getting out there and taking the steps will help me in this regard.  With winter almost here, I am also keenly aware of the seasonal time pressure to take advantage of the sparse opportunities offered for meaningful long distance races.  Several years ago I had as racing options the January Ocala Marathon/Half Marathon...they're long gone, sadly.  The LifeSouth Five Points of Life long distance events were consistently held from 2006 to 2020...until COVID hit and ruined everything.  When they resumed in 2022 with a half-marathon, the low number of entrants apparently disappointed the organizers and the non-profit blood-donation organization enough for them to stop holding it.  Only they never announced that the races were over, and didn't respond to queries about this decision.  That's called ghosting, and it's a highly disrespectful, deliberate breach in communication.  Earlier this year I had discussed with my cardiologist possibly going back to donating blood to LifeSouth...I'm O+, the "universal donor" designation, with my cardiologist.  But because of the medications he has me on, his answer was squarely "NO".  So when LifeSouth pestered me with another annoying plea for blood donation, I replied with my medical explanation.  No response.  Then I wrote them how I felt about their "race Weekend" cancellation and their refusal to be up-front and candid about it.  No response.  Hey, you bloodies, you can stop holding your running events, and I'll be disappointed but still supportive, if only you just make the expected announcements.  Now I'm seeing stuff on the Internet about how the Five Points marathon.half-marathon has been announced without any sign of detail regarding the February 2026 dates and sign-up information.  My take is that they're (expletive deleted) on us, or ghosting, and that they'll let the anticipated "race weekends" pass by with no communication from them. Yet they will still continue to harass me with accusatory emails and text messages emphasizing that (MY) desperately needed blood donations to them aren't just the most important thing: they're the only thing!  Well, with quickly fading hopes of getting some information about a potential Five Points Gainesville race in February, I went to my YouTube account and searched for information.  The answer directed me to a channel run by ultramarathoner Wes Plate.  Now I like ultramarathon runners like Dean Karanazes who are upbeat about promoting their sport: I like to hear their stories.  Plate's video was 8 minutes long, giving him plenty of time to mention LifeSouth and what their intentions were.  Only he did nothing of the kind, and all I got was a discussion of ultramarathon races to come, including a 300K event (180 miles) in steamy Tennessee.  Plate's video saddened me, and in my own state of medical health I don't see myself training up to being able to cover distances in excess of a marathon (26.2 miles) length.  The Florida Track Club Marathon next month to me is a dud event, and I resent the organizers' half-assed time restriction of six hours beyond which they reserve the right to refuse to time and post for entrants who are on the slower side of that figure.  My idea and estimation of public racing have greatly shrunk over the last two or three years, with LifeSouth going into Ghost Mode (aka giving us the Finger) and Florida Track Club dropping the ball, marginalizing runners and walkers while pampering those they regard as "elite".  And the non-profit side of FTC, along with its president, clearly holds aging people like me, fighting cancer and with diminishing athletic abilities, in contempt.  Well, ghosting can be a two-way street...