One year later, the Steve Haydu St Patrick’s LoTide Run can welcome runners

WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) - As the world marks the year anniversary of the coronavirus pandemic, things are slowly returning to normal.

This time last year the Steve Haydu St. Patrick’s Lo Tide Run had to be canceled. It was shortly after Governor Roy Cooper issued stay at home orders.

This year the race is on. Scheduled to Saturday March 13. It will look much different this year. There are a limited numbers of on site runners, those runners will head out in waves at different times to avoid a large gathering as well as other safety protocols.

“You’ll have to wear a mask at the beginning, We also have temperature checks to start the race. You can remove your mask while you’re running as long as you are within a distance of six feet of people, of other runners. Then when you cross the finish line we just ask that you put it back on,” said Alexandra Bowling, Steve Haydu St. Patrick’s Lo Tide Fund President.

The on site race registration is closed but there is a virtual option.

“You can still register online and do the virtual race. That opens up March 12th. You can start reporting your time and you can report your time up until all the way until March 21st,” said Bowling.

Volunteers worked had all year to make sure they could hold the race in some capacity.

“We had to work together with Go Time to make sure that we were in compliance with the state and also with the city. There’s no written guidelines as far as what to do when hosting a mass gathering like a race so we worked together with them and our all volunteer board to make sure we were in compliance with that but we’re super excited, we feel like we’ve done everything so we can have a safe and fun race this year for our volunteers and our participants,” said Bowling.

The number of people participating is down but Bowling says the volunteers are happy with what they’ve been able to accomplish and the support they have received.

“People love our organization, they love what we do for the community, the community loves this run. It’s very important to Carolina Beach and people were excited this year, especially since we had to cancel the race last year. So I feel like we’ve had more people than we expected and we’re super excited for everyone who is going to be here.” said Bowling.

The Steve Haydu Lo Tide Run is held every year to raise money for families struggling with a cancer diagnosis. The race is named after Steve Haydu, a Carolina Beach resident who died of cancer in 2005.

Copyright 2021 WECT. All rights reserved.