The endurance and mass participation events industry is joining forces to ask Congress to provide long-term relief and support to running, triathlon, OCR and cycling event organizers.
Stating that “Endurance sporting events are the heart of the health and fitness industry in the United States, with over 30 million annual participants in over 50,000 events— we drive over $2 billion in economic impact and sustain over 500,000 jobs,” the coalition is stressing that its events have severely felt the impacts of COVID-19 earlier than most other businesses. “Widespread cancellations and postponements, and as bans on mass gatherings may continue for some time to combat the spread of the virus, our industry will see sustained impacts beyond what the recently passed stimulus legislation will support.”
Spartan Race, Ironman, Tough Mudder, Rock & Roll Marathon, Running USA, USA Triathlon and imATHLETE/EnMotive have joined to convene the first-ever coalition of endurance sports organizers across disciplines to share in one singular voice — asking Congress to provide critical funding and relief to ensure the groups can continue to deliver events in the future that benefit public health, drive economic impact, create and protect jobs and bring people together.
The Endurance Sports Coalition is inviting other endurance event organizers or vendors/service providers who rely heavily on this industry to join the coalition. “Together as one united voice we can leverage the power of our networks and the passion of our athletes to ensure our voice is heard in Washington,” it says in a website message.
Interested companies or events can go to acknowledge our Memorandum of Understanding, and commit to allowing the coalition to include theiur name and logo on its list of partners.
The coalition will soon be sharing a call to action for member races and organizations to share to their databases — mobilizing athletes to sign its petition and reach out to their elected officials, voicing their support for the future of endurance events.