MICHIGAN – An event spanning across Michigan that would have pitted student-athletes with the task of running across the state to hand-deliver the official National Football League game football to Ford Field in Detroit this weekend was, in part, cancelled due to inclement weather.
Fox Sports Detroit reached out to schools across the region in an effort to bring the football from Mackinaw City to Detroit as part of Fox Sports Detroit Football Week in Michigan.
Two out of the 31 schools taking part in the about 320-mile, 10-day relay-style run cancelled their legs of the event, according to Dietz Sports & Entertainment, operating on behalf of Fox Sports Detroit.
“Unfortunately, there was a winter storm warning issued by the county and the school district administrator for both the last two legs of our run (on Sunday, Nov. 11), Houghton Lake and Whittemore-Prescott, told the athletic director, who was our contact with both schools, that kids could not run in the weather,” Howard Krugal, Dietz Sports said.
Krugal says Houghton Lake High School’s 19 students, scheduled to begin running after Roscommon High School, and Whittemore-Prescott’s 13 students both cancelled.
“Safety, obviously, is our first concern and the help of student-athletes is our second concern,” Krugal said. “The school made a decision that the kids shouldn’t run and we supported that decision.”
Whittemore-Prescott Jr/Sr High School Athletic Director Anne Mervyn said parents were concerned for their students’ safety, and that worry was shared.
“My concern was for the safety of our students,” Mervyn said. “The roads were slushy and slippery. Passing cars on the road were the biggest concern.”
Mervyn says her 13 students were originally planning on starting their leg of the run from Dean Arbor Ford in West Branch, with half of the group beginning there and the second half finishing at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Alger about 13 miles away.
Houghton Lake High School students planned on finishing their portion of the event earlier that day, starting at the Roscommon County Road Commission and ending at Dean Arbor Ford; in total, running about 19 miles.
While Mother Nature created dangerous conditions, Mervyn says there are no plans to reschedule as the event must run its course in order to finish on-schedule at Ford Field this Sunday.
However, Mervyn says if the opportunity presented itself again in the future, she knows her students would be on-board.
“It would be a great opportunity for them,” Mervyn says. “It would be great exposure for them and for our school.”
