The New York Marathon, initially scheduled for November 1, was canceled this Wednesday due to the coronavirus pandemic, announced the New York Road Runners association, which is organizing the event. This is the second time that the world’s most popular cross-country race has been canceled, after the 2012 break after Hurricane Sandy. This 2020 edition should have been exceptional, because it was the 50th New York Marathon, created in 1970.
“Canceling this year’s marathon is a huge disappointment for all involved,” commented New York Road Runners CEO Michael Capiraso, quoted in a statement, “but that was clearly the way forward from the point from a health security perspective. “
New York was, by far, the city in the world most affected by Covid-19, which has caused more than 22,000 deaths.
The organizers will offer the possibility to those registered to be reimbursed for their registration fees or to postpone their participation to 2021, 2022 or 2023. Even if it is far from being the most competitive in terms of times achieved, due to the fact With a tough course, the New York Marathon is the world’s most popular annual cross-country race. In the 2019 edition, he broke the record for the number of participants who crossed the finish line of a marathon, with 53,640 runners.
25,000 foreign runners
NYRR Vice President for Media Chris Weiller said prior to the cancellation the organization expected “more than 53,000” runners to finish this year, with around 25,000 coming from the foreign. The 50th New York Marathon is now scheduled for November 7, 2021.
A few minutes after this announcement, it was that of Berlin, initially scheduled for September 27, which was in turn canceled. Since 2003, all world records have been achieved on the Berlin course, which is flat and particularly favorable. The current world record belongs to the Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge, in 2 hours 1 minute and 39 seconds, and dates from September 2018. The last winner in 2019, the Ethiopian Kenenisa Bekele, had failed 2 seconds from the world record in the ‘from an anthology final.
Given the ban on any gathering of more than 5,000 people in Berlin until October 24, organizers have been working on other options to postpone the event. But the attempt to develop a health protocol with local authorities and experts to protect runners was unsuccessful.
“As hard as we have worked, it is currently not possible to organize the marathon”, indicate the organizers on their site: “Fun, good humor, health and success are the elements that characterize” the marathon of Berlin, “but we are not able to guarantee all of this at the moment”. Berlin is traditionally the meeting place for tens of thousands of runners from all over the world.
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