City of Carlsbad Triathlon

The Final Finish Line

Dear Friends,

It is with tremendous sadness that we are writing to tell you that Renegade Racing is going out of business due to the COVID-19 pandemic. None of us expected just how devastating this virus would be to our country - and to many small businesses just like ours.

When the country started shutting down in March, large events were the first affected. As events canceled one by one over the Spring, we maintained hope. We moved events to later dates, we hosted virtual events, we created more digital content to keep our participants engaged. All the while, we scaled back as much as we could, we applied for relief funding and grants. We eagerly sought out creative solutions to take care of our participants and to keep our business solvent. The fact is, our bills didn’t stop but our income did. It was an unsustainable business model, and consequently, we are leaving this business with a tremendous amount of personal debt from trying to save it. Now we are going from a “DNF 2020” (race term for “Did Not Finish”) to closing the books on 15 years of doing what we love.

Over the years, we worked hard to produce hundreds of events, designing and implementing safe and fun experiences for athletes of every ability. We welcomed families and provided an event opportunity for children at nearly every event. We watched those same kids grow from Diaper Dashes to placing in 5Ks.

We had the privilege of working with many remarkable organizations and are honored to have contributed to the critical fundraising efforts of those partners, such as the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation Reaching for the Cure, the Tustin Public Schools Foundation Dino Dash, the Challenged Athletes Foundation, the City of Laguna Hills Memorial Day Half Marathon, Race for the Rescues, Forever Footprints OC Walk to Remember, and the American Heart Association Heart Walk, just to name a few.

Our professional race crew members are some of the finest people on earth. We all thrived on providing YOU, our participants, with a great experience from start to finish line. It was rewarding to be a part of your story – to give you something to work for and help you reach your goals. Our event production team was the best of the best. We gathered in the dark of night, setting up trusses, building stages, hauling participant shirts and swag so it would be ready for you at dawn. We clapped and cheered until the last participant passed the finish line. And then we tore it all down and did it again the next weekend. We absolutely loved doing this and our hearts are broken to realize we won’t see you at your next start line.

For every event we held, we relied on the hard work of volunteers – our unpaid heroes who would show up early in the morning and work for long hours, rain or shine, to help bring our participants an exceptional experience. Events would not happen without tens to hundreds of volunteers at each and every event and we cannot thank them enough for their dedication over the years.

Thank you for the many years of support and good times. We wish you all the best as you continue to pursue your health and fitness journey.

Stay safe and keep chasing that finish line,

Jonathan, Taite & Emerson (Tiny Renegade) Pauley

Stay tuned for information directly from the City of Carlsbad on this event going forward.

This is pretty cool. Lasso featured us in an article about event companies doing good giving back to the community during the pandemic. Thanks for the feature, LASSO Workforce!

https://bit.ly/3hXOLoT

Due to COVID-19 and the City of Carlsbad directive, the Carlsbad Triathlon is rescheduled for Sunday, November 15th.

Registered participants will automatically be transferred to the new date. If for any reason the new date does not work for a registered participant, we will honor a deferral to the 2021 event or offer credit towards any other Signature Renegade Racing event in 2020 or 2021. As stated on our policies and procedures, we will not be issuing refunds. The deferral form is found on our website under FAQ and we will post it in the comments.

We are keeping up with the latest information and will disseminate it to you as it pertains to events. That said, we will be adhering to CDC, State, and Local guidelines throughout the entire event. Your health and safety are always our main concern and there is more to come on updated procedures.

We appreciate the understanding and commitment of the sponsors, participants, and volunteers during a challenging time for the entire industry and, in particular, our small family-owned business. Our hearts go out to everyone who is impacted by this crisis.

Thank you Zoot Sports for sponsoring the event shirts! We'd like your feedback on which color option to go with. Black, Gray, or Neon?

Please vote 1, 2, or 3!

We know you want to know what’s going on. We do too. As of now, we plan to produce this race. If small, local races are permitted this summer, we will be there and will produce a safe and healthy event with an abundance of caution and new procedures in place. It no doubt will be different, but we will still have fun and give you a good race experience in this new world we are living in.

We are taking our cues from state and local officials and will let you know if anything changes.

Stay healthy and keep training (from a distance)!