I got an email tonight from the organizers of the Donner Lake Triathlon saying that air quality is so bad that they are forced to cancel the race.
Very disappointing.
Then it went on to say that “unfortunately the triathlon cannot be rescheduled and we are unable to offer refunds due to costs incurred for developing this year’s race.”
EXCUSE ME!?!?!? No race, no road closures, no cops you need to pay, you aren’t even offering us free/discounted entries for next year, and no refund is possible?!?! SO I just donated to the Change of Pace Race Promoters’ Own Personal CHARITY FUND?!
I certainly hope they are planning to mail everyone’s t-shirts and goody bags. And I’d really like a better explanation than just “unfortunately” and “unable”. I guess I am just spoiled by down-to-earth, non-raking-in-millions-off-of-athletes race organizers like Velo Promo, the antithesis of M-Dot and their triathlon-promoting emulators such as Change of Pace who seem really interested in making a buck. I can understand that they have incurred some cost already, but surely not the *full amount* of everyone’s entry fees PLUS business sponsorships.
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This entry was posted on Thursday, July 10th, 2008 at 9:23 pm and is filed under Donner Lake Triathlon, in my opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Agreed, I find it hard to believe that they can’t at least offer us a discount on next year’s race. Change of Pace is a for-profit organization and the race cancellation only will fatten their coffers. I will not be participating in this race again unless they offer some sort of consolation. Hopefully others will do the same.
fyi — other events in the area that were cancelled due to smoke will likely offer refunds
http://www.sierrasun.com/article/20080710/SPORTS/103528032/1052
I would be surprised if the Tevis Cup offered refunds. The Western States Endurance Run, which is organized by the same group, was canceled without refunds. Velo Promo is the only promoter giving refunds for races canceled due to air quality.
that sucks! is that even allowed?
Wow. I was sad I was going to miss this race but now I am not. That is just wrong and cheap. I think people should boycott next year.
did it state refunds would not be available when registering?
Seems like if they didnt specify that you have something to work with.
Seems pretty lame.
well, it said no refunds, but it also said in the same sentence that “this event occurs rain or shine”, so since the event is actually NOT occurring, the story is a bit different…
now they are saying they might give discounts for next year or something. i think i’ll just race whatever velo promo has to offer that same weekend
That’s Total BS! Well at least what goes around comes around… these guys will get what’s coming to them. We triathlete’s rally around stuff like this better than anyone!
This is so lame. I’m thinking of never racing this one again, even though it’s been one of my favs that I’ve done twice now. Forget it. I understand as a non-profit they’ve incurred some costs – how about leveling and refunding 50%? I think people would probably be pretty understanding about that. Maybe refunding 50% and offering a 25% discount for next year’s race would be a nice compromise and would probably leave people feeling pretty good about them an an organization. What a load of b.s. This really steams me.
If you used your credit card to register you might ask them to cancel the charges. Some card companies are pretty cool about that kind of stuff. Since this is a Tri I am gussing that its a fair bit of money so it might be worth the phone call.
RK
Boooo! You hit the nail on the head with the “evil empire” M-Dot corporation. They seem to be sprouting up everywhere. Shame on them! They don’t deserve to have you as an athlete anyway…
Hey – I am doing my very first bike TT this weekend. I was thinking about you – as the biker chick turned awesome tri chick…
Is it legal for me to wear the VAC shorts? They are great! 
It is a very unfortunate but common practice. I have had 2 races cancelled. One was AG nationals in 2005 with no refund, and almost $1000 spent on airfare, hotels, entry fees, etc. All of it gone. The other was an open water swim this year that cost $75 (I signed up last minute making it more expensive but it was pretty pricey I thought). It was in the Hudson River and the current was so strong in the wrong direction that only one swimmer from the first wave was making any progress so they cancelled it after several hours of waiting. They said that they had already spent all the money from the entry fees on the boats, goodie bags, etc. I’m not sure they had spent all of it, but I understand that they had spent some of it.
A lot of the entry fee does get spent prior to race day and unfortuately that is gone. But whatever is left over should be given back to the participants. Perhaps the race director still wants to be paid for the work that he did as well? It is just a crappy situation for everyone and hard to figure out how to make anyone happy.
OMG maija after your story i have no right to complain!!!
i just got an email saying that people can get a full credit for 2009 entry, they have to register by march 31 2009 but they get a full credit. which is nice, i have no interest in doing the race next year since i have little interest in being in tahoe this time next year. oh well.
Totally bogus. The company gets to profit completely on this year’s race for an event they didn’t put on. I got a call saying no to the refund request because they’ll have costs next year, which may be the case, but I’m willing to bet my swim cap they’ll profit mightily next year too. Why not offer a credit for next year or a refund? Who knows what I’ll be doing next year at that time? The nature of business is risky. They took risks. They didn’t insure themselves against this type of natural event. They should have. I, for one, will never participate in one of their events, and I’ll be sure to tell other athletes thinking of registering about their shady practices. Bad business.