DK Gravel Race cancels 2020 event
Life Time's struggles with gravel race continue
Life Time’s struggles with the DK Gravel Race continue this week. Organizers of the high-profile gravel race were forced to cancel the 2020 edition of the race this week, due to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.
Organizers cited concerns over the impact the race would have on its host town of Emporia during the ongoing pandemic. Life Time’s statement reads:
“While the recent events have certainly been a huge focus for us, we have also been working through our fast-approaching September 12th event postponement date, and the implications hosting a large-scale event in Emporia during the COVID-19 pandemic could have on our home and the homes our participants will return to when they leave here.”
You can read Life Time’s full statement on the 2020 DK, including four refund and race deferral options being offered.
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Latest problem for beleagured DK event
DK’s cancellation comes at the same time as Life Time is in the process of renaming the event. Life Time’s announcement refers to the event as the DK throughout, in reference to the race’s original name. Organizers promise the event will be back in 2021, complete with a new name for the long-standing race.
The latest announcement comes just weeks after DK’s founder, Jim Cummins was fired after comments he made online about the shooting of Rayshard Brooks by Atlanta police officers.
Life Time, the owner of DK, announced it would be changing the event’s name at the same time as it announced Cummins’ firing. Both Cummins and Life Time resisted earlier calls to rename the event.
The September 12 race date was already postponed from the events originally scheduled May 30 start. Both the original postponement and subsequent cancellation are due to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.
Cummins founded the DK Gravel Race in 2006. It has been held in Emporia, Kansas every year since.
