 The organizers of the Reno River Festival postponed the event until August to make sure it's completely safe for groups to gather. In the meantime, they're sponsoring a challenge to benefit local restaurants and first responders. The Virtual River Run is a way to put some miles in - and everyone is welcome to join up.
"You pick one of two courses and do it on your own," said Jess Horning of Liquid Blue events, the organization that puts on the River Festival. "Whether it's at home, walking on a treadmill, walking up and down the street, going of a jog, whatever. I signed my dog up, by the way. We're doing the 121 miles and my kids are walking my dog up and down the street, it's great."
The two course are a 17k - the distance of the Truckee River from the Nevada-California state line to Wingfield Park - or the full Truckee River course, 121 miles. You can bike, walk, or run that distance whether it's in your home or out in the neighborhood.
"We're doing the full monty," said Dave Thackaberry of Sparks. "We're doing the 121 miles. So we're about just over 30 miles into it. We have until Mother's day but we'd like to get it done by the end of April."
The goal is to get people moving while social distancing. Dave and Melissa Thackaberry have been making steady progress.
"We live in an area that you walk a couple of blocks and you're out in the foothills of Spanish Springs," Melissa said. "So we've been talking the dogs out for walks every single day, anywhere from 4-7 miles just depending on the day. Even when it's windy and rainy, we're out there walking the dogs and we're hoping to get a bike ride or two in as well."
Entry fees for the challenge go to Feed our Heroes, a program that provides meals to local first responders, courtesy of local restaurants.
"We want to help local restaurants that are struggling right now, that aren't open," Horning said. "We want to help our heroes that are taking care of the people that are sick, the front lines, and also we want to help you at home because through this, we want to keep a positive mental energy and give you guys a goal to accomplish something through this."
So far the challenge has raised enough for nearly a thousand meals.
"My sister is a nurse, she lives down in LA," said Melissa Thackaberry. "So when they said they were going to help some of these first responders, it was a personal thing to me, to help out those people, because I know what she's going through and what the people at different hospitals are going through. The fatigue, the exhaustion, not having the right equipment and things like that. So if I can support those efforts, I'm going to."
Participants have been posting their progress on the run's Facebook page, cheering each other on.
"It's a great cause to kind of fight this COVID-19 situation," Dave Thackaberry said. "It stays within the community. Only we can control how we come out of this, and staying not only physically fit, but also mentally fit is really important in these kinds of trying times."
For more information, visit: https://renoriverfestival.com/
