I hope you and your families are doing well.  Thank you so much for completing the survey we sent out a few weeks ago.  The information you provided is extremely beneficial for us to move forward together.  Your health and wellness are always my first priority, with that in mind, I have presented an idea to the board to create a reopening committee.  This committee’s mission/purpose is to help us get back to running in a safe manner. 

As you have seen in the news, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and the Maryland Governor have loosened COVID restrictions. While we are nearing the end of this trying period, the pandemic will not end suddenly, and we must continue to proceed thoughtfully. 

Based on the latest CDC, state, and local guidance as well as the significantly reduced COVID infections and high vaccination rates, the following policy changes for the club will go into effect starting after our holiday run on July 4th.  Please be on the lookout for more details in the coming weeks.
Fully vaccinated individuals are no longer required to wear a mask, nor observe social distancing, but may choose to do so if they prefer.

If you are not fully vaccinated you are still required to wear masks, and maintain social distancing at all times to help protect yourselves and others. In the spirit of our core value of unquestionable integrity, we will operate on the honor system, and I need to remind everyone to refrain from asking about vaccination status or making assumptions about the reasons why an individual may or may not be wearing a mask.   This is Protected Health Information (PHI) and it falls under medical privacy.  No one is obligated to report when or if they have received the vaccine.  Nor, is anyone obligated to reply to questions pertaining to it.  Some may choose to share and some may not.  Different people have different levels of comfort on this subject. 

Looking ahead, the PGRC Board along with the reopening committee is nearing the completion of a planning effort to determine our post-pandemic posture.  Given the recent changes in CDC, state, and local guidance, as well as the requests by many of you to be able to get back to running more frequently, we are looking at ways we can start transitioning from the running pods back to our normal club runs and in person meetups. The plan right now is to start club runs Thursday July 8th, following Independence Day holiday run on July 5.  We will move back to our normal meet up days and times prior to COVID (as listed below).  We are also looking at ways to bring back training programs, and even having the Wright Stuff race in the fall. 

Throughout this crisis, you all have demonstrated your care, compassion, and dedication to each other and to PGRC. We will need your empathy and dedication over the summer and possibly the rest of the year too, as the unique constraints imposed by COVID-19 will linger for a while longer.  Not all individuals or families are vaccinated or can be vaccinated.  Keeping these sorts of personal constraints in mind, let us continue to be respectful towards each other, whether in masks or not.

I really appreciate everyone for being so flexible with our scheduling and hybrid ways of staying connected and running.  I hope that everyone continues to stay safe, and mindfully practice safe habits. 

We look forward to seeing you on the trails again soon!

Respectfully yours,

Ndegwa R. Kamau
PGRC Board President

Long Run Sunday at 7:00 am – Mission BBQ https://goo.gl/maps/x6s83ktWxbn

Easy Tuesday at 6:45 pm – Herbert Wells  https://goo.gl/maps/co8oVKLg7wn

Easy Thursday at 6:30 pm – Herbert Wells https://goo.gl/maps/co8oVKLg7wn

Easy/Hills Saturday at 7:00 am Herbert Wells https://goo.gl/maps/co8oVKLg7wn