Bloomington, Indiana – For the first time in over a decade because the city didn’t approve the former route, The Hoosier Half Marathon and 5K had to change routes.
According to the owner of the race, Curt Winders, he’s concerned that people will stop coming to the race.
“When you sign up for something, thinking it’s gonna be a pretty road race throughout a city and then you find out that you’re running through a parking lot… rightfully so there’s a lot of upset people that may not come back,” Winders said.
According to Winders, eight routes were submitted to the city council before one was approved. While the route usually winds through downtown Bloomington and Indiana University’s campus, this year it’s restricted to Memorial Stadium and surrounding areas. Some of the reasons other routes were rejected were because of construction on Walnut Street and the campus being closed for too long.
According to Winders, the city also said new Homeland Security protocols require cross streets in residential areas to be manned by a uniformed officer.
Another reason routes were rejected was a staffing shortage in Bloomington Police Department. The city did not immediately respond to requests for comment. “Adding one more disappointment to runners who are used to running throughout the strip city streets and seeing all the landmarks throughout the town,” Winders said.
For the past two years, the race was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. This year there are 600 participants. Usually, there are about 2,000.
According to Winder, for the past six years, the Hoosier Half Marathon and 5K have donated 100% of profits to IU Dance Marathon, with the money ultimately going to Riley Children’s Hospital. Each year, around $20,000 is raised, for a total of more than $100,000 since Winders has run the race.
“Ultimately we … put all this together and we do all this work so that we can raise money for Riley and … help out the IU Dance Marathon,” Winders said. “And the concern is now that people won’t come back.”
