Description

The Finger Lakes Runners Club is hosting a virtual run to benefit Ian Golden's Finger Lakes Running Company—Ithaca’s only specialty running shop. The COVID-19 pandemic is hitting small businesses especially hard, and many will struggle to stay afloat without community support.

The Finger Lakes Running Company has been a pillar in the Ithaca community for the past 14 years—as a specialty retail outlet, a frequent sponsor of local races, a financial supporter for many local non-profit organizations and fundraising events, a hub for all running-related activity, and an all-around champion of the #ShopLocal campaign. Ian depends on his business to help pay the bills and support his family.

There is no cap on the number of entrants, and the Finger Lakes Runners Club wants to raise as much money as possible to help. 100% of the proceeds—every single cent—from this virtual event will be donated to the Finger Lakes Running Company to be used as needed while closed under the “New York State on PAUSE” executive order.

When and Where

Run a total of 19 miles, 19 kilometers (11.8 miles), or 1.9 miles during the week of April 27–May 3. This can be on roads, track, trail, treadmill, a 1983 StairMaster 6000™, laps around your living room coffee table—it doesn’t matter! The miles can be run all at once or split up between multiple days. Walk, hike, skip, or bear crawl if you don’t want to run. What’s important is that we are paying it forward and giving back to the community.

We encourage you to post pictures and a recap of your run to the Finger Lakes Runners Club General forum and social media. Take pictures, share stories, and use hashtags #RunGorges and #SaveOurShops. Video chat on the treadmill. Live stream your trail run. Let’s reach as many people as possible and have as much fun as we can while physically distancing. Self-reported results will be published to our Web site after the conclusion of the run.

Event's current local time: 7:40 AM ET