As we head into the final month of an unorthodox year, I’d like to take a moment to share general responses to common questions as 2021 approaches. The topics presented here discuss attendance, training, when to take a break, Winter Training, and the 2021 Annual Membership.

ATTENDANCE: If your child is attending nationals or has an annual membership, they may attend two days of training each week. If your child trains via Runcard and is not attending nationals, they may attend one day per week. This will remain in place until December 21, at the earliest.

PRE-JO TRAINING: If your child is running nationals, they should be running on their own outside of Whisper. At practices, we discuss how often and how far they should be running on their own – nothing hard, just runs – and I am happy to answer any questions to keep them sharp heading into Kentucky.

BREAK: After nationals, Coach Dave will self-quarantine through December 20. Morning practices will resume Monday, December 21, with intermittent breaks to celebrate Christmas and New Years with family. Anyone who has been training regularly since August should take at least one week off from running starting December 13. Ideally, two weeks off would be best (resuming Dec 28), but knowing there isn’t much going on right now and the kids need one another physically, mentally, socially, and emotionally, one week will suffice and we will steadily resume training by creating a solid foundation of miles at lower to moderate intensities through late January.

POST=JO TRAINING: Runners whose training/attendance has been irregular since August may resume December 21.

WINTER TRAINING: At this time, school districts are not accepting reservations for 2021, so we will continue with what we are presently doing, which is a la carte training for distance runners. If things open up and we are able to rent the tracks, then we will most certainly offer some semblance Winter Training. However, due to limitations on the size of groups allowed at facilities, mandates on social distancing, etc., there’s a good chance that sprint/jump conditioning will not take place, pending any miracles.

2021 ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP: The short of it is, I don’t have an answer for 2021 at this time. However, here are some thoughts:

Training via Runcard gets expensive. If a child attends twice per week at the current Runcard rate, that’s over $1,700 per year just for training.
Surprisingly, race registrations got expensive in 2020, and frankly, I don’t see them going down. For example, in years past, registration for both boy and girl teams at Ultimook was $75 for 50 runners. This year, the social distance Ultimook race was $250 for 10 runners. Ultimook is planning another race in April, and at this time, it’ll likely be a very similar operation – social distance racing - far removed from what we are used to. Ultimook registration isn’t the only race that has increased substantially. Outside of USATF race registrations, which is $15-20 per runner per race, every race registration for middle school races has increased at rates similar to Ultimook.
Though 2020 seasons were cancelled, we were still able to salvage a few races – Teddy Twilight, virtual track and XC races, weekend track or XC intersquad races, Scary Run, Yakima, and now nationals.
For 2021 Whisper race registrations (to be able to race in a Whisper uniform at track or XC meets), we need to see what 2021 will look like in terms of the number of meets taking place for both track and cross-country. The earliest a race could possibly be in 2021 would be March, so we can circle back to this around March 1.
The best-case scenario at this time would be a training-only registration at the same training/race registration rate as last year, which was $1,249, then a separate race registration for track and XC seasons (see previous bullet). Essentially, pay for training to avoid the Runcard, then once we know whether we will have a track and/or XC season, offer race registrations (track season, XC season separately). If this is the route we can go (if things look good as far as covid mandates, vaccine releases, community protection, etc.), then this will be offered near the end of December. Feel free to share your thoughts, as I am happy to listen and consider a new or different approach.
Look at the Calendar and you will see that practices are scheduled through December 9, with nothing in the books immediately after. This is to protect us both – we cannot commit to something that we cannot fulfill. If covid mandates force us into a temporary hiatus, this means refunds, which I am not comfortable doing. Until the light is at the end of the tunnel in full view, the Calendar will be updated in 4-6-week increments, similar to how it was published in waves through the fall months.

Finally, please bear in mind that Whisper is not just a small business, but a tiny business which does not qualify for PPP’s or forgivable SBA loans. I am fortunate to put your money back into Whisper in several ways, my favorite of which is hiring high school Pacers, which we now have at every practice – a first ever in 2020!

Thank you for taking the time to read through this information. If you have any questions at all, please feel free to reach out at any time.

Thanks!

Coach Dave