Angela Treleven was among the runners scheduled to run Twin Cities Marathon on October 1. She flew to Minneapolis from her home in the Seattle area on the Friday before the Sunday race and stayed in a hotel for two nights. At 5:30 a.m. on race morning, she—and thousands of others—learned that both the marathon and the 10-miler were canceled, due to forecasted high heat.
Treleven, 43, figured she’d never see a dime back on the $195 entry fee she paid for the marathon.
So she was pleasantly surprised to open her email on October 20 and learn that in fact, she’d have all of her registration fee returned (minus the transaction fees from registration platform Race Roster).
“I was definitely shocked,” she said. “I actually thought the longer it went, the less likely it was we’d get something back.”
Race officials are also promising 2023 marathon and 10-mile entrants guaranteed entry for their event next year.
“Utilizing event cost savings, insurance coverage, and Board-approved cash reserves, we are able to stretch resources and offer a full refund to all affected runners,” the email to runners read.
“We understand the race cancellation on October 1 was a difficult and emotional experience. While a registration refund does not replace the experience of a great, safe race and does not necessarily cover all the expenses incurred for race weekend, we are glad to be able to refund runners their race registration.”
Eli Asch, the race director, told Runner’s World after the cancellation that they waited until the last minute to have the best chance at holding the events, but the forecast changed for the worse overnight.
He didn’t regret the decision, saying, “We saved lives.”
Full refunds are rare in the race industry. Events incur many of their costs well before race day—on everything from shirts and medals to porta-potty rentals and fencing. The fine print during the registration process usually explains to runners that they can’t get their money back, even if the event is called off.
In September 2019, before the pandemic, Treleven began a quest to run a marathon in all 50 states. So she has seen the gamut of how races have handled cancellations due to COVID or bad weather.
“I’m still mad at Charleston,” she quipped. The South Carolina race canceled in January 2022 nine days before the race, due to a COVID surge that taxed police and emergency response, race staff and volunteers, and the local hospital. Organizers offered runners entry into a future event.
That did Treleven no good. Instead, she entered the Daufuskie Island Marathon the same weekend, two hours away, and checked the state off her list. She has currently completed marathons in 44 states.
If all continues to go well, her final state will likely be Minnesota—at Twin Cities in 2024.
Sarah Lorge Butler is a writer and editor living in Eugene, Oregon, and her stories about the sport, its trends, and fascinating individuals have appeared in Runner’s World since 2005. She is the author of two popular fitness books, Run Your Butt Off! and Walk Your Butt Off!
