TETNA board cancels Run Tosa Run 2020 over COVID-19 pandemic

The following message was sent April 6 to all who registered for this year's Run Tosa Run.

Run Tosa Run registrants,

With public health advisories recommending against public gatherings, to slow the spread of COVID-19, races of all sizes and distances have been canceled or postponed in recent weeks. Tosa East Towne Neighborhood Association waited to see if it would be possible to continue as planned with Run Tosa Run on May 16, but at this point, it seems clear that those plans can’t go forward. The TETNA board, regrettably, has decided to cancel this year’s Run Tosa Run.

Although we considered postponing the race until later in the year, that option would have come with a continued level of uncertainty. All of us hope that conditions improve soon so that social distancing precautions can be safely lifted, but not knowing when that will happen makes it difficult to plan any future event, especially one that requires a certain amount of logistical moving parts. That said, we look forward to bringing the race back again for 2021.

Every year, TETNA has three main goals with Run Tosa Run: to bring our neighborhood together, to promote all our neighborhood has to offer (especially its businesses) and to raise money for Ronald McDonald House Charities Eastern Wisconsin. Each year, we donate 100 percent of net proceeds to Ronald McDonald House Charities, and despite the cancelation of this year’s race, we’d still like to continue making an annual donation.In these uncertain times, we know many families suddenly are dealing with financial hardships times. Even a $25 race fee may seem more significant now than it did earlier in the year. With that in mind, we’re inviting runners to consider one of two options:

• You may request a full refund of your race registration by emailing that request to runtosarun@gmail.com, and we will process that refund in the near future.

• For any runners who don’t respond by May 1, we will use your race fees as part of the donation to Ronald McDonald House Charities. If you’d prefer that your fee becomes part of our donation, you can simply do nothing.

If you would like to make an additional direct donation to Ronald McDonald House Charities as part of this fundraising effort, you can do so online here.

This was to be our seventh straight year hosting Run Tosa Run. Although we’re sad to announce this one-year hiatus, we’re grateful for the support of sponsors BelAir Cantina, GRAEF, Lutheran Home, Mathnasium and Shine Salon. And we hope all our runners are able to continue to get out running while also following the state’s “Safer at Home” policy during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sincerely,

David Paulsen
Run Tosa Run race director
TETNA board president