Monterey Bay Half Marathon cancelled due to unhealthy air quality

The growing Camp Fire in Butte County sent smoke drifting a couple hundred miles south, to the Monterey Peninsula. This was a health risk that put a halt to runners at the 16th annual Monterey Bay Half Marathon.

“We were crying. It was just devastating to us that we wouldn’t be able to do this,” said runner, Joanne Statsman.

Statsman and her group of friends traveled all the way from Minnesota, just for the event. Receiving the news that organizers had shut it down because of the smoke, less than 24 hours to race day, led to indescribable disappointment.

“We’ve trained for a long time for this, so it was very disappointing. It took a little bit to overcome, but we decided we were still gonna do it,” said runner with the group, Becky Collins.

The group of 5 women set their alarms for early Sunday morning, anyway. Safe or not, they were going to complete the marathon.

“I know I would’ve regretted not doing it so I need to do it with these ladies,” said runner with the group, Jenna Robertson.

Health though was still concern. Not everyone is this group joined the risky run.

“We did have several members of group who chose not to do it because they have asthma and different breathing issues. They made the decision that was best for them, from a health perspective, to not run. I know it was hard for them to make that decision,” said Collins.

On the route, Sunday, plenty of other hopeful runners were there with them. The group said they don’t view their trip to Monterey as a loss. They said getting the chance to do what they love, in a setting like this, made it worth while.

Organizers of the Monterey Bay Half Marathon said they will revisit the possible rescheduling of the event in the coming weeks.