I think offering a full refund to self report symptoms is a great idea. I think a lot of poor decisions have been made to go to events this past year because people don't want to lose money.

Adam - Thank you for your time and effort on this topic.  I do not have any edits or additions at this time.  

I believe this is the website we will use to determine the statewide cases/100K in the last 7 days - https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#cases_casesper100klast7days

You can see that we are currently at 60.7.  When we were discussing the metric a few weeks ago we were at 72.  So we have a downward trend.

This is certainly far from "perfect".  Nothing is ever perfect.  We put a lot of time and thought into this, but I (and the executive committee) are wide-open for comments, questions, suggestions, edits, etc.  It is my hope that we agree upon and adopt these measure during this meeting.

The third bullet point says "...must be equal to or less than 20 cases per 100K of WV population", but the attached WV-Color-Alert-Indicators.png file gives orange as 15-24.9 and red as 25 cases per 100,000. Is there a reason that the executive committee chose 20 cases instead of the numbers listed on the color chart?

@arhodes5, compromised risk tolerance.

The numerical mark was the most debated aspect of the suggested metric.

I support the compromise of 20/100k. Any lower and it would nearly impossible to hold any event, much higher and it wouldn't be much of a limit. Thanks for

I also support the requirement that club fun runs follow the same guidelines, although congregation is king of the purpose of fun runs.

Thank you for reaching out to Dr. Sifri. Did the executive committee discuss including other metrics than just the 20/100k case rate?

@arhodes5, we did consider other metrics, but none were discussed at length by the committee.  We agreed that that cases per 100K over 7-day average was the best metric to serve our needs.

I do not have any edits or additions. I think it is smart & well thought out. I hope we can proceed with events this year! 

Process: I think it is fitting that we should have a motion/second and vote upon these items.

Communication:  I believe that we should be transparent with the COVID-19 Metric and process with the club.  Once we have an approved measure, I will share the metric, guideline, and updated waiver with the race directors.  I think we should also post the COVID-metric and guidelines on our website.  Is that also the board's consensus?

I agree that we should be transparent about the decision process, and I agree that it should be posted on the website. The welcome screen post about COVID can be updated or replaced to include this information in text or pdf.

I make a motion to approve the proposed COVID-19 Metric for Holding WVMTR Events.

I second.

I agree that guidelines should be explored to simplify the process of whether to hold an event or not given the ongoing pandemic.  The issue is difficult and nuanced.  Early in the pandemic, West Virginia had much lower numbers than other states in the region.  Preventing an influx of people traveling in from higher risk areas made absolute sense.  The laundry list of comorbidities and poor overall health in West Virginia, due in large part to culture and poverty, can’t be denied.  Early in the pandemic, metrics helped guide policy that kept us out of the worst-case scenario. 

 Last spring and summer, the governor gave a discount to West Virginia residents for campgrounds and lodges at our state parks to encourage people to get outside and move.  On my runs on the Kanawha Trace, at Beech Fork State Park, Dolly Sods and in the Seneca Backcountry, I saw more people taking advantage of the outdoors – camping, biking, getting healthier – than I had ever seen.  Families were out day hiking and spending time on the trails instead of the usual beach vacation. 

“The goal of the WVMTR is to encourage running and the healthy, positive qualities that running encompasses.”  The WVMTR mission is far more a positive impact than negative in the current pandemic.   Giving runners a goal race that leads to consistent running and healthy habits is even more important for those at the back of the pack, holding on to a new hobby or change in lifestyle.  Now more than ever, responsibly held club events and races can be WVMTR’s contribution toward improving the health of West Virginians and strengthening resilience against the next strain or virus.

I was able to attend three races last year.  The Breaks Ultra in Kentucky, Rim to River 100 and Hellgate 100K.  Each followed their state guidelines and did an excellent job at mitigating COVID using the methods listed in the original statement.  Personally, I hope prepackaged aid station food sticks around permanently!  The location of each race was either away from any population centers in a state park or something very similar in Ace Adventures.  Any additional traffic in the community was met with the same mitigation we see - reduced seating in restaurants, masks required indoors and social distancing requirements.  To date, I have not heard of any increase in COVID-19 infections tied to these three events.

Does cancelling a race once the metric of 20 per 100K in West Virginia reduce risk?  The number of racers that attend our events is likely not enough to move the needle.  The number represents the current rate of infection at a moment in time.  It allows us to compare for the sake of trend analysis but I don’t feel such a low threshold should be used to cancel a race.  It should inform our mitigation plan.  There are other measures that could be introduced. 

First and foremost, we should be focused on “The goal of the WVMTR is to encourage running and the healthy, positive qualities that running encompasses.” 

Perhaps we can have a higher threshold for club fun runs, or no threshold if the event is small than a certain limit? It seems we supported a few club runs last year that occurred without issue, specifically because they attract fewer people.