The Viking Half Marathon & 5K will run through Greenwood next weekend.
“We’ve had good success with this race,” said Beth Stevens, executive director of the Greenwood-Leflore County Chamber of Commerce, which organizes the annual event.
Title-sponsored by Viking Range, the event resumes its normal springtime date in this month. It was postponed last year because of the coronavirus pandemic and moved to October.
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The 2021 Viking Half Marathon & 5K will be held Saturday, March 20, and the event offers two race options — a half marathon at 13.1 miles or a 5K at 3.1 miles. Runners from all over have enjoyed the race because of its flat, scenic course, which takes participants on a journey from Greenwood’s historic Cotton Row district to its oak tree-lined streets.
“We’re just glad to be able to do it,” said Stevens about holding the event. “That’s a positive.”
Both races will start on Market Street in front of the Leflore County Courthouse, and run east to Lamar Street. The races will keep an earlier start time than on previous occasions — half marathon at 7 a.m. and 5K run at 7:30 a.m.
“We did it that way last year just because we were trying to beat the heat — originally, we had scheduled the event for August when we moved it the first time,” said Stevens. “When we moved it to October, we decided to keep that time, and it worked out very well.”
While COVID-19 cases seem to be on a downward trend, the event will continue to adhere to health and safety guidelines as it did in 2020.
“We’re going to follow the same protocols that we had last October when we had this race,” said Stevens. “We’re not very far into 2021 yet, and I think there’s still a lot of COVID concern.”
The half marathon and 5K will each be laid out to promote social distancing, and participants are asked to maintain a 6-foot distance at all times.
Water stops will be set up at every other mile. Participants should bring their own water bottles, as no cups will be provided at the stops.
Hand sanitizing stations will be at the start and finish area and at each of the water stops. Volunteers will be on hand to sanitize the water coolers.
Participants are strongly encouraged to wear their masks prior to the start of their race while in the start and finish area. They are also strongly encouraged to put their masks back on following their race as they access food and beverages. All volunteers will be wearing face masks and gloves.
Participants and volunteers who are sick, running a fever or have other symptoms are asked to not attend.
Those who are participating are asked to not engage in traditional forms of physical contact, such as handshakes, high fives and hugs.
“I think we pushed through this last year and found ways to do outdoor events safely. We’ve had a lot of other event organizers from around the state call us to ask us how we did that, what were our protocols. So that was a compliment to us,” said Stevens. “We got to do these events, do them safely and serve as a model for other events that are similar to ours and help them to navigate their events as they come back and start doing live events in person. We were glad to be able to figure out a way to do it and do it safely and be able to help others to bring back their events as well.”
As of Friday afternoon, 190 participants had registered for the event.
“That’s a good number. That is still down for a normal year, but still good, all things considered,” said Stevens.
Last year’s Viking Half Marathon & 5K brought out 246 runners, which was low for the event.
“Our numbers are still down a little bit, but I think that’s to be expected because we are still in the thick of COVID,” said Stevens. “I do expect those participation numbers to go up over the course of next week.”
There’s always a surge in participant registration the week before the race.
“It’s possible we could match our number from last year or exceed that,” she said.
Although there will not be the typical fanfare, packet pickup will return to The Alluvian hotel from 1 to 6 p.m. Friday.
Packet pickup will also be held on race day from 5:30 to 6:45 a.m.
The post-race activities will be similar to last year — there will be no awards ceremony or live entertainment.
Participants, however, will have a selection of food, including catfish from Larry’s Fish House, chicken wraps from By the Bridge Bistro and slices of pizza from Domino’s.
There will be an awards tent, where race winners can retrieve their prizes.
“That’s right there at the finish line, and that worked out really well for us last year,” said Stevens. “The awards are different every year, so that’s always a cool element that we try to do.”
All of those who complete the half marathon will receive finisher medals.
Both races are running events. A participant may choose to walk. The course, however, will close at 10:15 a.m.
The half marathon registration fee is $65 until Saturday and $75 from Sunday until race day.
The 5K fee is $35 until Saturday and $45 from Sunday until race day.
Registration can be completed online, at The Alluvian on Friday or on race day until 6:45 a.m. For more information, visit vikinghalfmarathon.com.
• Contact Ruthie Robison at 581-7235 or rrobison@gwcommonwealth.com.
What: Viking Half Marathon & 5K
When: Saturday, March 20; the half marathon starts at 7 a.m., and the 5K run starts at 7:30 a.m.
Where: Both races will start on Market Street in front of the Leflore County Courthouse.
Details: For more information, visit vikinghalfmarathon.com.
