So..what I consider to be the unthinkable in terms of a race planning has happened. Having watched the live feed of this morning’s meeting concerning Monroe County’s review of its decision to deny Ragnar the permits for the upcoming Florida Keys race…which, may I remind you, is only 11 weeks away…and it was a really upsetting hour. Despite having representatives from Ragnar (including the CEO and race director) and members of the community with hard numbers of the positive economic impact from the race, the Commission has recessed until 1:45pm, with no decision being made. That means no change from the previous decision was even proposed. And by their actions during the meeting, there was never a chance.
In the grand scheme of things…I know this is not a big deal. There are MANY more important things going on in the world. This is a first world problem. I know that.
But personally I’m more than a little heartbroken. Setting aside the money I had already invested in this (as team captain, I put out a LOT of money to make this happen….hotel rooms are already on my credit card, non-refundable flights, and the entire team registration save for one member…which I had been reimbursed for but what the hell is going to happen now?), I was emotionally invested in it. The Florida Keys race was my introduction to Ragnar in a blogger’s post. I obsessed about it for two years before signing up my own team for Cape Cod. Due to scheduling conflicts, I missed the Florida Keys race for THREE years….but this year I was determined to get in. I pulled whatever strings needed to be pulled and this past February I signed up as team #11, the Rum Runners. I somehow convinced some of my friends to join me for this crazy wonderful weekend. I reached out to the Ragnar community and made 6 new friends who purchased my “other” van. To say I was excited is an understatement.
It’s hard not to feel angry. It’s hard not to feel like a victim to local politics. It was a hard meeting to watch.
Even though this had nothing to do with me…I feel like I let my team down. I’m killing time writing this rather than post the official news on our team facebook page. I want to wait until the Commission is back from lunch at 1:45…just to be sure. I want to see some kind of official notification of this just as much as I don’t.
My plan had been to go to Florida for the weekend, even if it was cancelled. To stick to the original plan. To enjoy the keys anyways. But now I’ve got such a bitter taste in my mouth…I don’t even know. They’re so sure they can fill the hotel rooms to 100% capacity even without Ragnar clogging up their town? Let someone else take my place.
I don’t know. I’m probably just being dramatic and once I get the first snowflake here it will be like “FLORIDA!!!!”
But this is really a tough blow.
WOW, just wow. I am also shocked and saddened by this turn of events. We didn’t get in in 2015 because it fills so fast and I was stoked for getting in for 2016.
I’m REALLY surprised that Ragnar hasn’t informed anyone that this permit issue was happening since I’m sure people have purchased flights, hotels, vans in the past 3 weeks that this issue has been known to me.
It’s not over until it’s over, but I’m not holding my breath.
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