VCNP News:

The Thompson Ridge Fire has forced the cancellation of the annual Run the Caldera Marathon event.

Mike Lippiatt from the Los Alamos Chamber of Commerce said that more than 450 participants had registered up to the time the event was cancelled earlier this week.

Lippiatt addressed the short and longterm impact the cancellation of Run the Caldera may have on the local economy.

“It is impossible to quantify the loss of revenue due to the event being cancelled but the impact to our local businesses is quite significant,” Lippiatt said in a news release. “The long-term impact lies in the issue of getting these participants back next year. It will be difficult to get all this years registered participants to come back for Run the Caldera 2014. We will be working very hard early next year to get as many of this year’s participants back and to help increase registration numbers.”

He explained that Run the Caldera is one of the “Pick 6” events that the Chamber works closely with in marketing and assisting in efforts to maximize the events.

“Although this will be a larger task with RTC next year, we look forward to utilizing any and all of our abilities to help re-capture and increase the excitement of RTC.” Lippiatt said. “The Thompson Ridge Fire is an unfortunate situation for all of us but we are a resilient community and we will keep RTC, other local events and our businesses a desired destination for athletes and visitors everywhere.”

The official statement released by the Valles Caldera:

For the safety of staff, volunteers and participants, the Valles Caldera Trust’s Fire Management Officer has officially cancelled Run the Caldera June 8 & 9, 2013. This decision has been made in light of the ongoing “Thompson Ridge Fire” that started the afternoon of May 31. We will not be rescheduling this event for this year. All registered Run the Caldera participants will receive a full refund, however, please allow at least 30 days for processing.