PRRO Circuit Postpones Season, Championship Due to COVID-19 Impacts

April 28, 2020

Publix Gasparilla Half Marathon to open 2021 PRRO Circuit season; 2021 Boilermaker 15K to present 25th PRRO Championship with $10,000 PRRO Super Bonus available

BETHESDA, Md. – The Professional Road Running Organization (PRRO), organizer of the PRRO Circuit, has announced that due to the impacts of COVID-19 its 2020 season will be cancelled. In March, the Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile, the slated 2020 PRRO Circuit first stop, was cancelled, the second stop at the Lilac Bloomsday 12K rescheduled its annual May event to September 20, and then in April, the Boilermaker 15K, the PRRO Championship host, moved its traditional July date to September 13. The PRRO Circuit, launched in 1995, showcases world class competition at four classic American prize money road races shorter than the marathon distance.

“Because the impact of COVID-19 has been so widespread, profound and disruptive, we felt the best option for the PRRO Circuit and all involved parties was to cancel the 2020 racing season and to reboot with a full Circuit schedule in 2021,” said Don Kardong, PRRO President.

However, the 2019 Boilermaker 15K, the completed first stop on the 2019-20 PRRO Circuit, will be part of the 2021 season. Below is the 2021 PRRO Circuit schedule:

• Boilermaker 15K, July 14, 2019, Utica, NY
• Publix Gasparilla Half Marathon, February 21, 2021, Tampa, FL
• Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile, April 11, 2021, Washington, DC
• Lilac Bloomsday 12K, May 2, 2021, Spokane, WA
• Boilermaker 15K: 25th PRRO Championship, July 11, 2021, Utica, NY

At the 2021 PRRO Championship, reigning champions (Gabriel Geay and Rosemary Wanjiru), 2019 Boilermaker 15K winners (Jemal Yimer and Rosemary Wanjiru) and any athlete who has won one of the 2021 Circuit events are eligible to compete for the $10,000 PRRO Super Bonus, which is awarded to the winner of the 2021 PRRO Championship (bonus split if an eligible male and female win the PRRO titles). Those aforementioned runners are also eligible for the PRRO Event Champion’s Bonus ($1500 cumulative for eligible athletes who do not win the PRRO Championship but do finish in places 2-10 at the PRRO Championship). Any athlete who wins the PRRO Super Bonus is not eligible for the PRRO Event Champion’s Bonus.

If the male and female winners of the PRRO Championship have not won any of the events on the current Circuit, they will be awarded $2500 each as the PRRO Championship Circuit winners in addition to the prize money at the PRRO Championship event.

To-date, PRRO Circuit events have produced 17 world and 17 U.S. road records, awarded more than $7.6 million in prize money and seen more than 2.5 million runners cross their finish lines. In addition, since 1996, the PRRO Championship race has paid out more than $1.9 million including $160,000 in PRRO Championship bonus money.

The PRRO Circuit, a long-time pioneer and champion of a clean sport, has funded drug testing at its events since 2006. During the 2018-19 season, more than 50 in-competition tests and an undisclosed number of pre-competition tests were conducted. The 2021 season will have a similar number of tests done by Clearidium. Last fall, PRRO also launched its Allied Membership program for races who wish to be included in a random drug testing pool at an affordable price.

PRRO Championship and Circuit Year

The PRRO Circuit, launched in 1995, starts and finishes the Circuit Year at the same event that will also host the season-ending PRRO Championship race. The reigning titlists of the PRRO Championship and the event winners on the current Circuit are eligible to compete for the PRRO Super Bonus at the PRRO Championship.

Visit PRRO.org for more information, including its history and past champions, as well as how to join the PRRO Circuit or to become a PRRO Allied Member.

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