2020 Dirty Kanza Canceled
The world’s leading gravel event, Dirty Kanza, has become embattled of late. First there were calls to change its name, then COVID-19 forced a reschedule. After a comparatively quiet period, its founder was fired for racially-charged comments, and the question of changing the event’s name to something more culturally sensitive resurfaced in the aftermath.
And now it’s canceled. You can throw a dart blindfolded at a dartboard to decide which of those factors it was. Or we can just tell you. It was… *drumroll* COVID-19!
The continuing resurgence of COVID-19 in the US has laid waste to the organizers’ plans for a rescheduled event in September. Life Time says, “We now realize the safest and most responsible thing to do for our athletes, volunteers, and community is cancel the 2020 event.” Which is fair enough, really. Mad that we’re canceling events in September and October, but that’s the state of play with the virus. Wear your face mask so we can have cycling back next year.
Dirty Kanza will return in 2021 in its usual spot in the calendar. Well, kind of: when it comes back, it’ll have a new name. This is America we’re talking about, so it’ll be called either something like Mud, Sweat, ‘n’ Tearz or Dirty @S$ Gravel. We’ll take bets on Kansas Klassic too, and we’ll give you good odds because they’ll likely want to avoid having too many Ks in their name now Jim Cummins is no longer involved.
Here’s their statement:
Life Time, the nation’s premier healthy lifestyle brand which owns and produces the Garmin Dirty Kanza, the world’s premier gravel event, today announced the 2020 DK, which had been rescheduled for September 12, 2020, has been cancelled due to persisting COVID-19 concerns. The decision to cancel comes after thorough input from community leaders and reviewing the latest scientific data trends on the Coronavirus pandemic.
“Our team has worked hard for many weeks to determine if an event could take place in Emporia this Fall and we have been in regular communication with local community and health leaders to determine our best path forward,” said Lelan Dains, DK Race Director at Life Time. “While we hoped that something could be done, if even with an altered capacity, we now realize the safest and most responsible thing to do for our athletes, volunteers, and community is cancel the 2020 event.”
Life Time is offering registered athletes their choice of four options. Participants have been requested to select their choice by August 7:
- Complimentary deferral into the 2021 event (June 5, 2021)
- Complimentary deferral into the 2022 event (June 4, 2022)
- Donation of original entry fee to the Life Time Foundation (benefitting the Emporia Unified School District 253 school lunch program) and receive a guaranteed, non-complimentary entry into their choice of the 2021 or 2022 event
- Full refund (excluding processing fees)
Danny Giefer, Mayor City of Emporia added, “The decision to cancel an event is never an easy one, and I appreciate the thought and work that Life Time has put into planning the 2020 race. While we are all disappointed the event can’t occur as planned, we can look forward to 2021 and a continued long-term relationship hosting the world’s premier gravel cycling race right here in Emporia.”
The DK team at Life Time is looking ahead with both reflection of the past and excitement for the future. With a promised new name, fresh look and a continued focus on growing the sport, the 2021 event is promised to be a first-of-its-kind experience for athletes, volunteers and community members. In addition to the rebrand, which is set to roll out over the coming months, Life Time is in the process of creating an event industry-focused diversity, equity and inclusion coalition.
For more information please head to: https://dirtykanza.com/new-dirt/2020-event-status-update/