“Across the country, 24-hour races have been disappearing, so we feel lucky to have kept our event alive as long as we have,” says Wendy Zupan, co-owner of Round and Round Productions, with Gino Lisiecki. Declining participation numbers and retiring key volunteers were some of the reasons for their decision.
“At its peak in 2011, our event hosted almost 900 participants, and last year we were down to 462. The decision to end a much-loved effort by Gino and myself was not easy, but…we agreed that the 20th anniversary of the event was a good time to say ‘Happy Trails,’ which is the theme of this year’s race,” she says.
“We have seen tremendous early registration so far this year, definitely due to the fact that it’s our last run—at least that is my impression. I suspect that we’ll probably see upwards of 700 racers, maybe more…we have had more early registrations at this time of year than in our entire past history, so all things point to a good turnout.” roundandround.com //
