Virgin Sport Is Postponing the Festival of Fitness
Photo via Virgin Sport
[Updated 10/12/2017 at 11 am] Virgin Sport announced Thursday morning that it will be cancelling the San Francisco Festival of Fitness this weekend due to healthy and safety concerns. "After careful consideration and consultation with the City and County of San Francisco and local officials, we are canceling our Virgin Sport San Francisco festival of fitness," the brand wrote in a statement, noting that the decision will also mean that the festival isn't using "valuable Bay Area first responders and resources that can be better utilized elsewhere." All participants will receive refunds.
Continue reading the original article, detailing the five things you didn't know about the Virgin Sport Festival of Fitness, below.
Virgin Sport is hosting its inaugural Festival of Fitness in San Francisco this weekend, (assuming that the air quality is safe enough for outdoor fitness), and a slew of Bay Area fitness favorites are going to be there.
Events will kick off on Saturday, October 14, with the Twin Peaks Mile Race, which is divided into four waves. Style Mile participants are encouraged to wear their swaggiest gear, and there will be awards for best single and duo costumes. The Straight Up is exactly what it sounds like: a no-frills one-mile hill sprint. Better Together is the team mile challenge, and the HIIT & Run will combine the mile-run with functional fitness stations along the course.
On Sunday, October 15, the festival continues with the all-new San Francisco Bay Half Marathon. Beyond the road race, there will also be Go Fit Yourself activation zone at Civic Center Plaza, where some of the top trainers in the city will be leading free classes. Flywheel and ClassPass will both have their own stages, Motiv will be leading foam rolling and recovery sessions, and three superstar trainers—Rosario Rios Aguilar, Shauna Harrison, and Erica Stenz—will be leading classes on the main stage.
Here are five more things you should know about this new to San Francisco event.
1. It's the first Virgin Sport festival in America.
Virgin Sport has hosted three other fitness festivals so far, but all three were in the UK. The first two were in London, and the most recent festival (which happened last weekend) was in Oxford.
2. You'll have more than a few friends to get fit with this weekend.
Virgin Sport officials say they're expecting 5,000 guests at the festival.
3. San Francisco was an obvious choice for Virgin Sport's first big stateside event.
"Virgin Sport loves San Francisco and felt it was a natural fit, given its vibrant fitness and sport community and Virgin’s great history with the city— home to Virgin America and their upcoming Virgin Hotel," a rep for the company explains.
4. You need to register for the races RIGHT NOW.
The cutoff date to register for the Half Marathon and the Twin Peaks Mile is today, October 11, at 11:59 pm PST. Go Fit Yourself signups will remain open.
5. Prepare your questions about space travel before showing up.
Last week, Virgin founder Sir Richard Branson told the Nordic Business Forum in Helsinki that he could be in space in as little as six months. Want to know more about that? Come ready with your space questions because Sir Richard will be at the festival! (He's leading a pre-race meditation with Headspace co-founder Andy Puddicombe at 6:55 am on Sunday, but you might be able to catch him after.)
There is a chance this weekend's plans could change due to poor air quality from the North Bay fires. Virgin Sport officials are monitoring the situation, and say the "health and safety of our participants is our highest priority." To stay up-to-date with the latest festival news, check the Festival of Fitness website or social channels.