LYNCHBURG — In March, the Mach Tenn Running Club, the organizers of the annual Oak Barrel Half Marathon, made the difficult decision to postpone their annual and oh-so-popular April event to October due to COVID-19 concerns. (Read our full coverage of that date change by clicking here.)

After appearing before the Metro Council to get the new date approved, race officials started shifting focus to the new October 24 date – one following the new Lynchburg Music Fest dates of October 2-4 and the new Jack Daniel World Invitational Barbecue date of October 10.

“It’s the old Jack Daniel’s World Invitational Barbecue date,” Miller said during that Metro Council meeting. “They’ve moved their event up and we decided we liked that date.”

As expected, the new date just won’t work for some runners. As such, organizers say they’ll soon be releasing several race slots for new runners. If you’d like to be notified when this happens, you need to subscribe to their email list by clicking here.

For more information about the race, visit their website and for updates leading up to the event, check out the race’s Facebook page. •

{The Lynchburg Times is the only independently owned and operated newspaper in Moore County … covering Metro Moore County government, Jack Daniel’s Distillery, Nearest Green Distillery, the Lynchburg Music Fest, Tims Ford State Park, Motlow State Community College, Moore County High School, Moore County Middle School, Lynchburg Elementary, Raider Sports, plus regional and state news.}