OPEN DISCUSSION: Please be respectful to one another. I know this is a hot and critical issue. Two months out will be our IBRD's 10th anniversary, and even though that might seem like enough time to wager what should/will be done, now's the time to act. I am hearing the fears of others about getting people together for any activity during this very concerning time. I have my fears as well. Throughout life, we're so used to using our common sense to protect ourselves and one another when we become ill that it would seem natural to do so in any situation. BUT this is different. Yesterday, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) a pandemic. In many places throughout the world, not just sporting events, but schools, day cares, and businesses have been cancelled indefinitely, and employers are asking their employees to work from home if possible while nursing homes are on lock down. People are going to run whether I/we say they should or not (hopefully, responsibly). But I plead to you all...Let's postpone this year's IBRD until there is a vaccine and this virus is under control, no longer under pandemic status. Your thoughts, please?
Here in Spain there's a big problem with pandemic situation. Commerce and sport events including gyms are being banned. School and university are closed for 15 days and we're waiting maybe tomorrow or Friday we will be confined and isolated. So guess here in Spain would be a irresponsibility to organise this year event.
We're not going to promote this event this year. We're waiting official announcement restrictions for being outside of home. Like our Italian brothers
I think the only thing we seem to truly know is that nobody really knows where this is going.. From the press coverage here, my assumption would be that we are still on the upward curve by quite some margin -i.e. there are many more cases and, sadly, fatalities to come before it either slows because of containment measures or we find some sort of cure/treatment. Given that 3rd May (IBRD) is still a good 6-7 weeks away it could well be that by then many countries find themselves in ‘lockdown’, much as Italy is now... I have to say my own view therefore would be there is a very strong argument for postponement of IBRD -I believe most people would see this as a sensible, prudent approach. We can rearrange the date relatively easily can’t we? -just my own thoughts... Be interesting to hear the case for non postponement.... always ready to listen...
I am also for postponing the IBRD. Plenty of running events are being cancelled or postponed for after summer. it does not seem like a good idea for barefoot practitioners to be any different. What about planning for September?
My thoughts - IBRD events are typically not large gatherings, but I think it would still be prudent to be extra cautious given the rapidly changing nature of this pandemic. I think we can all agree that 7 weeks from now this situation will look a lot different - either better or worse - and there's nothing magical about the first Sunday in May, other than being the "traditional" IBRD date. I can't think of any good argument against postoning it until later in the year when there is a clearer picture. Let's all stay healthy and live to run barefoot another day!
That's the thing though with this virus...The CDC and WHO don't know how it will behave when the weather gets hotter; whereas the flu tends to die out (go dormant) around spring and summer here in the US, there's no guarantee that will happen to this virus with warmer climate. I know right now that there are cases of COVID-19 in Australia, for example, and when the US is having it's summer, Australia is having it's winter. So we need to consider the weather in other parts of the world, and since it's always going to be hot in one hemisphere whereas it's cold in another, I think having a vaccine AND the WHO lifting the pandemic status on COVID-19 will guarantee the safest outcome for all around the world.
Here in France, meetings and races are being cancelled. Personally, I've gone from fairly relaxed last week to being on alert this week, as the virus went from "something out there" to something which started touching my colleagues, friends and family over the weekend. Postponing the IBRD is a low risk, relatively low impact decision, especially before too many preparations are made. Keeping the date is potentially high risk, high impact. If I were managing the project, I know which I would choose. Besides, a t-shirt with the date crossed out with a Sharpie could be quite cool
TJ, Rafa, Tedlet, bfsailor, Janne, Noodles, bfsailor, seems like you reached the right decision, postponement. My thoughts and prayers to everyone, especially the ones in Hotspot areas at this time. Sooner or later most of us will be in that situation, or so it seems. Let's be extra cautious and stay safe!
