The Big Sur Marathon Foundation has announced it will be making a donation of $110,550 to Northern California Fire Relief

The Big Sur Marathon Foundation has announced it will be making a donation of $110,550 to the North Valley Community Foundation following the cancellation of the 2018 Monterey Bay Half Marathon. The 16th Annual Monterey Bay Half Marathon, scheduled for Sunday, November 11th, was canceled due to smoke from the Camp Fire, located in Butte County northeast of the Monterey and Pacific Grove race course.

On Wednesday, November 14th, the 7,600 paid entrants in last year’s Monterey Bay Half Marathon were notified of their eligibility to choose one of five deferral or donation options. As of January 1, 2019, roughly 80 percent of these entrants had made their deferral or donation selection. Just over two-thirds of respondents chose to defer their registration to the 2019 Monterey Bay Half Marathon while 25 percent chose to donate $75 of their entry fee to Northern California Fire Relief. The deferral and donation options and the percentage of runners who chose each option are as follows:

67% - Defer my 2018 Half Marathon entry to the November 10, 2019 Monterey Bay Half Marathon

25% - Donate $75 of my entry fee to a non-profit agency supporting Northern California Fire Relief

5% - Defer my 2018 Half Marathon entry to the November 15, 2020 Monterey Bay Half Marathon

2% - Donate $75 of my entry fee to Monterey County charities funded by the Big Sur Marathon Foundation

1% - Defer my 2018 Half Marathon entry to the November 14, 2021 Monterey Bay Half Marathon

“We appreciate the strong response from runners wanting to return to the Monterey Bay area this November and also those who want to help the many folks who were affected by this devastating fire,” said Doug Thurston, Executive Director and Race Director for the Big Sur Marathon Foundation, organizers of the event.

posted Saturday January 12th