Quarryman Organizers Release Statement on Race Cancellation

Organizers of Lemont's annual Advocate Good Samaritan Quarryman Challenge are still evaluating the feasibility of rescheduling the race, .

The Quarryman committee sent an email blast to about 600 registered runners Sunday morning to apologize and explain why Lemont police shut down the 10-mile and 5K races.

According to the email, public safety officials require the area to be lightning free for up to 30 minutes prior to start of the event and a low probability of lightning during the race.

The races were delayed twice before runners were informed at 8 a.m.—30 minutes after the 10-mile race was scheduled to begin—that the event was canceled due to a threat of lightning in the area.

Lemont Police Chief Kevin Shaughnessy, who was was tracking the weather from , said that although there was a gap between storms, there would have only been a 20-minute window to hold the race before there was another significant threat of lightning.

Police ultimately decided to shut down the Quarryman Challenge "to ensure the racers' safety based on the best available data regarding current and likely weather conditions," according to race organizers.

"Maybe it would have been more challenging to proceed with a race with the word "Challenge" in its name by trying to simultaneously tackle the hills and avoid lighting at the same time, but the police and weather officials disagreed and the race cancellation deities had other plans," the Quarryman committee said in a statement. "We understand and respect that this impacted all of our runners, over 200 volunteers, 30 or more police/officials, Lemont Public Works and the race committee that worked so hard to train for or organize the event."

Despite the cancellation, a large group of runners still opted to complete the course.

Many participants criticized Lemont officials for pulling the plug so quickly, especially since the storms ended up being relatively mild.

"After the decision was made, it continued to rain, although the lighting did subside. However, there was no way to reliably predict that," the committee said Sunday. "It was a difficult decision, but the safety of the runners was our top concern. The simple fact is we would rather have a few disappointed racers than make a decision that put the health or life of our racers at risk."

Organizers said they are currently discussing the feasibility of rescheduling the Quarryman, but there are no guarantees. There are no refunds for the event.

"As you are well aware, running races are almost never re-run after a weather cancelation for numerous reasons related to cost, permits, street closures and logistics," they said in the email. "The race already incurred all expenses related to the event including the cost of the timing company, police, public works, permits, etc., and it would be very costly to re-run the event. It also would be logistically very difficult to round up the more than 200 volunteers we have and the police from multiple communities, especially on any short notice."   

The committee said it would keep runners updated on the status of the event after the final assessment is completed.

For more information on the Quarryman Challenge, visit www.quarrymanchallenge.com.

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