San Jose Shamrock Run Cancelled – Going Virtual

UPDATED: March 10, 2020 @ 11:00am PT

Saturday, March 14 event has been canceled amidst increasing cases of COVID-19 in Santa Clara County; runners to receive 2020 finisher’s medals and shirts through a virtual race and are encouraged to share stories using #SJSHAMROCK

San Jose, Calif. (March 9, 2020) – We regret to inform our runners that the San Jose Shamrock Run 10K & 5K benefiting the San José-Dublin Sister Cities Scholarship Program has been canceled due to the increasing threat of COVID-19 in Santa Clara County. On Monday evening the County of Santa Clara Public Health Department issued a ban on gatherings larger than 1,000 persons, which our event categorizes under. While it is difficult to cancel an event, we support the County’s decision to ban large gatherings in the interest of the public’s health and safety.

The Virtual Run & Resiliency

Our mission at Run Local Events is to both ‘inspire people to move’ and to ‘improve local communities.’ With this in mind, we have pivoted to make the 2020 San Jose Shamrock Run a virtual event. We have switched all registered participants to virtual runners and will mail everyone a finisher medal, t-shirt, and race bib. Runners can expect to receive this by the end of next week.

***Yes, Virtual Runners count toward all of our Run Local Series and Challenges!

As a Virtual Runner, you can complete the race distance on the route, day and time of your choosing. No official timing is necessary for Virtual Runners, but as you participate virtually over the coming days on your own (or as a small run group), please share your swag, stories, and stoke with #SJSHAMROCKRUN. And it’s OK to try and have some fun too as we all sort through this unprecedented issue.

We’ve also worked with our partners so all Virtual Runners receive:

  • Sports Basement: All runners receiving their Shamrock Run Bib can take them into Sports Basement and still enjoy their 20% off (28% for Basementeers!) the entire store.
  • O’Flaherty’s: For the month of March, bring your Bib in and enjoy a free Guinness!

Running, along with any physical and mental exercise, can be a powerful antidote to times of adversity by building personal strength and resilience. We encourage our runners to find safe ways to continue this practice while adhering to the various recommendations put forth by public officials to stay healthy.

Our Community & What’s Next

First, we are planning on inviting our runners to pop-up events once this extraordinary event passes so we can come together as a community.

Second, while the current ban by the County is focused on large gatherings, there are local businesses deeply affected by this and we encourage you to support them in a safe manner. We can’t thank our local partners enough for their ongoing support of our community.

Third, our commitment to the San José-Dublin Sister Cities Scholarship Program is unchanged. We will continue with our donation of race proceeds to support this wonderful organization.

A note about the Silicon Valley Half (updated March 9 @ 11:45pm PT)

We know many of you are also registered for the SV Half on Sunday, April 5. While the SV Half falls just outside the County’s current ban on large gatherings in the interest of the public’s health and safety we have decided to postpone the SV Half until we are certain it does not pose a risk to our runners, volunteers, staff and local community. As of now, the event is not cancelled and we are working to find another date to hold it. Will will continue to update everyone and the most current information will be available on the SV Half website.

We know you likely have questions. Inquiries regarding the event’s cancellation or virtual run can be directed to [email protected].

Thank you and on behalf of the San Jose – Dublin Sister City Program and The Run Local Bay Area Team we appreciate your continued support. 

Sincerely, 

Aaron Jacobsen
President, Run Local Events

About Run Local Events
Since 2012, Run Local Events has brought locally produced events to the San Francisco Bay Area celebrating its runners, artists, and the unique diversity of each region. Its annual Series of events includes the San Jose 408K Race to the Row brought to you by Amazon (February), San Jose Shamrock Run 5K & 10K (March), Silicon Valley Half presented by Excite Credit Union (April), Across the Bay 12K & 5K (July) and The East Bay 510K – 5K & 10K (October). Join us on social @RunLocalEvents.