PRESS RELEASE 08/07/2021
SEPTEMBER 4TH OK RUNNER BROOKHAVEN RUN 2021 CANCELLED
The 36th annual OK Runner Brookhaven Run scheduled for September 4, 2021, has been cancelled for health and safety reasons. The state by state, county by county, CDC Delta variant COVID-19 Tracker Report released on August 7, 2021, reported Oklahoma and Cleveland county both rated at the HIGH [highest] level for transmissions and confirmed cases.
The report showed local deaths suppressed, but cases and hospitalizations increased significantly during the past 7 days. This upward trend has been going on in the Norman community for the past 4 weeks. Brookhaven Run Race Director, Gus Thompson said: “My passion for directing this longstanding event made it very difficult to shut it down for another year. Last year we switched the run to a virtual event and that just didn’t work. The final decision to cancel was mine alone and not mandated by the City of Norman, Brookhaven Village nor OK Runner.”
Thompson added: “I take the CDC guidance and medical comnunity’s concern over the virulence of the Delta variant very seriously. The decision to cancel was not easy, but the reward verses risk was not in favor of the event, even though it is outside. Masks and distancing seem to be things of the past and local fully vaccinated rates of eligible people are currently only 46.4%. I would rather err in favor of caution and safety than to go ahead with an event that could easily be a spreader of Delta variant COVID-19.”
“The Brookhaven Run has been the primary source of funding for Norman and Norman North High Schools boys and girls cross-country programs and I realize my decision affects their success and this year’s cross-country teams”.
Any contributions to these two programs can be sent by check (made payable to Brookhaven Run 2021) and sent to :
OK RUNNER BROOKHAVEN RUN 2021 3720 W. Robinson, Suit 116 Norman, OK 73072
All contributions will be divided equally between the two high schools cross-country booster programs
Copyright - Oklahoma City Running Club - The Landrunners
