HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The pandemic hurt numerous events and that included the Salt City Half Marathon.
Now Hutch Rec has decided that they will not bring back the 13.1-mile running race in the near future.
“The half marathon is probably not going to come back,” Tony Finlay said. “We’re looking at replacing that with a 5K / 10K run on that first weekend of October. We believe the half marathon just ran its course.”
Finlay says it really came down to numbers as fewer people were taking part versus the number of staff and volunteers it took to hold the event.
“It requires over 90 volunteers to do that event,” Finally said. “And when you’re getting down to 200 participants plus 90 volunteers you really start to get out of balance of what you’re trying to accomplish.”
Finlay says that losing the event last year gave them the opportunity to shift gears a little bit and offer some shorter races. Hutch Rec will still have the Smallville 5K and Super Hero 1 mile events on Third Thursday as well as the Salty Dog and Pup triathlons and the Muddy Hutch 5K in 2021.
The event started out as the Run For the Rocks Half Marathon with around 500 participants. The event was popular for its route which took it through most Hutchinson neighborhoods before ending at Gowans Stadium. The name was later changed to the Salt City Half Marathon which ended along Main Street downtown.