5th Annual St. Patrick's 5K CANCELED

MARCH 20, 2020 UPDATE: Coloma Lions and Leo Clubs and SWMI RACERS thanks our participants for their understanding and support upon the cancellation of the 5th Annual St. Patrick's 5K in Coloma to support Animal Aid of Southwestern Michigan!

Many packets have been picked up but a few remain. To keep expenses down, to prevent the race from losing money, and to allow a donation to be made to Animal Aid of Southwestern Michigan, a plan is in place for distributing the remaining packets:

• Ask participants who have not yet picked up a packet to confirm they would like to receive their race packet

• Limit the mailing of packets to those who live outside of a 20-mile radius from the Coloma Township Hall.

• Participants who live within the 20-mile radius will be given option to pick up their packet in their local area or wait and pick up the packet at a future event.

Participants will be contacted by email, phone and/or text message. Once responses are received from participants, the event can be closed out and a donation can be made to Animal Aid. We appreciate your continuing support and understanding!

COLOMA LIONS and LEO CLUBS - SWMI RACERS

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On Friday, March 13 at 7:55 am, the Coloma Lions Club received notification from local government on the status of St. Patrick's Day events in the City and Township of Coloma on Saturday, March 14. Coloma Township Police Department and the City of Coloma have decided to cancel all activities this weekend including the annual parade and the 5K Run/Walk on Saturday, March 14. The Township Hall will not be open for this event.

This action is based on the most recent recommendations and directives of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) designed to help prevent the spread of the virus in the State of Michigan. 

We know this result will not be welcomed by all, and we share your disappointment, but local permits for this event have been pulled. The health of our participants, members, and the general public is critical, and we must honor guidelines to help control the spread of illnesses.

We want to thank our participants for their support and understanding. The Coloma Lions Club, SWMI RACERS and Animal Aid of Southwestern Michigan are three non-profit organizations all led and managed by volunteer staff. Race supplies that cannot be returned (shirts, race bibs, medals, fruit, and more) have been purchased and expensed out of race and sponsor fees. This annual event is held to raise funds for other non-profit organizations. The 2020 benefit partner is Animal Aid of Southwestern Michigan. For these reasons, we offer the following outcomes:

• Packet pickup will continue as planned at the Coloma Township Hall from 5:00 - 6:30 pm, but OUTDOORS, in the parking lot. 

• We encourage you to run on your own in honor of the event and share your photos and stats with us by email or on our Facebook Event. However, please do not go to the Township Hall and run the race route.

• If you cannot make the pickup Friday evening, multiple packet pickup opportunities will be scheduled in the following week. Information will be communicated as far as dates, times and locations.

• Please note, upon registering, the waiver includes information on the No Refund Policy. It is our hope that you agree with this policy that prevents this event from losing money and still make a donation to Animal Aid of Southwestern Michigan.

Again, we are anticipating your understanding of a situation that is out of our control. If you have further questions, please send an email to racers@swmiracers.org and we will respond to it as promptly as we can.

COLOMA LIONS CLUB - SWMI RACERS