Aug. 9—It would have been the 36th annual OK Brookhaven Run fundraiser for two youth sports booster clubs, but organizers are being forced to cancel due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they announced this weekend.
The decision came after a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed Oklahoma and Cleveland County are included in the high community spread and confirmed cases categories, a statement from organizers said.
It’s the second year the event for the Norman North and Norman High School cross-county boys and girls booster clubs has tried to raise funds despite the pandemic. The run is the primary source of funding for the clubs.
“My passion for directing this longstanding event made it very difficult to shut it down for another year,” Gus Thompson, Brookhaven Run Race director, said in the statement. “Last year we switched the run to a virtual event and that just didn’t work. The final decision to cancel was mine alone and not mandated by the City of Norman, Brookhaven Village nor OK Runner.”
Thompson said he regrets having to make the decision, as it “affects their success and this year’s cross-country teams.”
The clubs are still taking donations mailed to OK Runner Brookhaven Run 2021 at 3720 W. Robinson St., Suite 116 in Norman, OK 73072. Donations will be divided equally among the cross-country clubs, the statement reads.
“I take the CDC guidance and medical community’s concern over the virulence of the Delta variant very seriously,” Thompson said. “The decision to cancel was not easy, but the reward verses risk was not in favor of the event, even though it is outside. Masks and distancing seem to be things of the past and local fully vaccinated rates of eligible people are currently only 46.4%. I would rather err in favor of caution and safety than to go ahead with an event that could easily be a spreader of (the) Delta variant COVID-19.”
Mindy Wood covers City Hall news and notable court cases for The Transcript. Reach her at mwood@normantranscript.com or 405-416-4420.