Guaranteed Entries from 2020
Entry Instructions
The in-person 2021 Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run and 5K Run-Walk will be held on Sunday, September 12, 2021.
On Tuesday, June 1, 2021 we will open registration for our nearly 12,000 individuals who deferred their 2020 entries to the 2021 event instead of taking a refund. IMPORTANT NOTE: Runners with a guaranteed entry from the cancelled 2020 events will be offered a choice of race dates: September 12, 2021, or April 3, 2022, which will celebrate the 49th running of the Runner’s Rite of Spring® in our nation’s capital.
The Process:
Prior to the opening of the lottery and the Guaranteed Entry period for the September 12 race on June 1, ALL guaranteed entries will be sent an email with a Guaranteed Entry Link (GEL). In order to access your GEL, you will be asked to enter some unique identifying information. Once you do that, you will be taken directly to an entry form. However, if you do not want to enter the September 12 race and instead want to run the April, 2022 race, you should NOT fill out the entry form for the September race. Those due guaranteed entries who do NOT complete an entry form for the September 12 race will be sent an email when the lottery for the April 2022 race opens, which will contain a GEL for the April 2022 race. Of course, anyone who enters the September 2021 race, even if you do not run or finish the September race, will not get an email entitling them to enter the 2022 race.
Note that those with guaranteed entries still have to pay the prevailing entry fee for whichever race you choose. In 2021, the entry fees will be:
10 Mile: $50 (plus online registration fee)
5K: $40 (plus online registration fee)
We will accept Guaranteed Entry Links until 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, June 13, 2021. No Guaranteed Entry Links or lottery registrations will be accepted after this date. Once this registration period is closed, those who registered with Guaranteed Entry Links will be accepted into the race.
A Word on COVID-19
While nothing can be completely certain with COVID-19, it appears that there will be a vaccine in wide enough distribution for the event to take place safely in-person in September. We will continue to monitor the situation to make sure that the race can proceed in a safe manner.
Note: Individuals with guaranteed entries from the cancelled 2020 race will not be eligible to use their guarantee entry for the Virtual Run. Guaranteed entrants must use their entries for either the September, 12, 2021 or April 3, 2022 in-person events.
Race Cancellation Due to COVID-19
This is what will happen if the 2021 in-person race is cancelled due to COVID-19 and replaced with a Virtual Run after 2021 entries have been accepted:
All individuals who deferred from the 2020 race and entered the 2021 race with a Guaranteed Entry Link will be deferred to the 2022 race, plus they will have the same options for the 2021 race as those accepted through the 2021 lottery as outlined below.
If COVID-19 forces us to cancel the race after registration has begun, runners accepted into the 2021 race - either by deferral or through the lottery - will have three options:
- A full refund of your entry fee of $50 for the ten mile and $40 for the 5K Run-Walk (with options to have your shirt and medal ordered shipped to you for $10, or available for pick-up at the race office, warehouse or at select Potomac River Running locations).
- Direct transfer of your entry into the Credit Union Cherry Blossom Virtual Run with shirts and medals mailed at no additional charge. As a note, the Virtual Run will be open to registrants who did not register for the in-person Ten Mile or 5K Run-Walk as well. The Virtual Run entry fee will be $40, which will include having a t-shirt and a medal shipped to participants.
- Donation of your entry fee to Children's Miracle Network and free shipping of any medals or shirts ordered.
