The 90th running of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb has been officially postponed after race officials met with the U.S. Forest Service yesterday afternoon. The event was originally scheduled to run on July 8th, with technical inspections starting July 3rd, but a wildfire in the area, which began on June 23rd, is less than five percent contained and has currently burned over 18,500 acres. The decision to postpone the race was less about direct interference with the fire – the blaze is currently heading away from Pikes Peak – and more about taking away resources desperately needed by the city of Colorado Springs and the surrounding area.
“At the end of our meeting today, it was clear that we would not be able to go as scheduled,” said Tom Osborne, Chairman of the Board of the PPIHC, in a statement released yesterday. “Our deepest concern is for the safety of the public and the competitors, and it was obvious that several agencies charged with public safety would not be able to commit the resources and manpower required to ensure those requirements because of the critical need for their resources at this time. Our city is in an unprecedented struggle right now and we are deeply sensitive to it.”
The 211 competitors, many of them from outside the United States, have already been notified of the event’s postponement, and a new date will hopefully be selected within the next two weeks. Race officials have assured that any tickets already purchased will still be honored and all agreements with sponsors and vendors will be fulfilled.
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