The 20th annual Run for Hope has been canceled due to COVID-19 concerns

In Meridian, the 20th Annual Run for Hope, that was scheduled to take place this weekend, on Saturday, November 14, has been canceled due to concerns surrounding the recent spike in COVID cases reported across the state.

The decision to cancel the 20th annual Run for Hope was made late yesterday evening. The annual event features a 1 mile fun run, a 2 mile walk , a 10k trail run, and 5k road race, and all of the proceeds from the run benefits the Hope Village for Children, which services children in the community, who do not have a foster home.

Event organizers shared that they were expecting a large turnout for this year’s race, and that over the pandemic they have raised over $86,000 for the Hope Village for Children

“The response has been tremendous, we had right at 300 registered, and in the midst of all of that, like everything else and everybody else, we’re experiencing the after effects of COVID, and it’s just a decision between the guild and hope village, to just put the race off because of the numbers, -- and the fact that people at Hope Village and the guild have all been quarantined or infected, and its just with the numbers we have, --it was just too risky,” said Rhonda Poole, Hope Village Guild.

Despite the cancelation, today event organizers still distributed race packets and bags to those registered for the race at Bonita Lakes Park.

“It’s the first time for all of us also, it’s been a unprecedented difficult year all around. So, like I said I know what it takes to train for this, and people have obviously trained, and it was a last-minute decision, it was a hard one, but we’ll make it right,” said Kim Monsour, Run for Hope Race Director.

For those who were not able to pick up their run for hope race packets today, the Hope Village Guild will also be on site at Bonita Lakes Park at the scheduled race time on Saturday, November 14, to distribute them.