MANSON — The Sept. 12 Lake Chelan Shore to Shore Marathon has been canceled due towildfires burning in the region, organizing group RunWenatchee announced today.As of now, the plan is still to hold the event's half-marathon and 10K races that day, with the half marathonutilizing a new course. There is no fire activity near the half-marathon or 10K courses.Rain is forecast to fall in the region this Saturday.A portion of the proceeds from the half-marathon and 10K will go to a fire victims relief fund.Shore to Shore race director Joel Rhyner said Chelan County officials and the race organizingcommittee agreed holding the marathon is not doable. The First Creek Fire located along thelake’s south shore is not contained, and there is limited access on South Lake Shore Road, whichmakes up more than half of the marathon course,"The health and safety of our runners is our number one concern," Rhyner said. "We would neverwant to put any of our runners in harm’s way, nor would we want to hinder any of the firefightingactivity going on in the area."It's disappointing to have to take this step. You never want to cancel a race," he said. "But oncewe learned there was going to be limited access to South Lake Shore Road, we were out ofoptions in holding the marathon portion of the event. There are no other roads along the lakethere that can replace the more than 13 miles we use for the marathon. That’s not the case withthe half-marathon and 10K, so that is why we are planning to still hold those races at this point.”While there are no active fires burning in the direct vicinity of Chelan or Manson, firefighters havebeen battling blazes along or near Lake Chelan since late June and further north in OkanoganCounty since mid-August. As of Tuesday, more than 404,000 acres had burned between theChelan and Okanogan fires. Dozens of homes and structures have burned and sadly three U.S.Forest Service firefighters lost their lives in the Methow Valley last week.Because the entire stretch of South Lake Shore Road has limited access, the half-marathon willnow start at the City of Chelan’s Lakeside Park at 8 a.m. From there it will head west on Highway97A to a turn-around spot near the intersection of Highway 97A and South Lake Shore Road, andthen proceed to the finish in Manson on the regular half-marathon course.The 10K course will remain the same, starting near the Chelan Shores development alongHighway 150 at 8:30 a.m. and continuing to the finish in Manson."By holding the half-marathon and 10K we want to give Lake Chelan a shot in the arm and toexhibit the community's resilience in the face of a bad situation," Rhyner said. "We will continue tomonitor the fires and smoke conditions, and if needed, we will make further changes to the halfmarathonand 10K. We expect to make a final decision on whether to hold the half-marathon and10K no later than Sept. 8. The health and safety of our runners is our number one concern, andwill remain so up to and through race day."For more details on how cancellation of the marathon will impact runners who signed up for thatrace, please visit www.runwenatchee.com or http://lakechelanmarathon.com/.A portion of the event's proceeds will go to fire victims. Rhyner said the Chelan Valley Fire ReliefFund is being administered by the Community Foundation of North Central Washington. For moreon that effort: http://www.cfncw.org/.Shore to Shore Marathon, Half-Marathon and 10K was started in 2001. The 2014 race attractedabout 600 runners, many of whom came from different parts in the United States.Economic development officials estimated the 2014 Shore to Shore Marathon, Half-Marathon and10K generated about $300,000 in spending for the local economy.###