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Running Races in Malaysia and Tokyo Suffer Cancellations

Photo credit: Facebook UTOP

This will be the new norm, moving forward in this COVID-19 pandemic. You register for a running event, but you will not know if you could make it to the event, or if the event itself can take place.

The organisers of Penang’s much anticipated trail running event – BUFF Epic Ultimate Trails of Penang (BEUToP) tried their hardest to stage a race this month despite the challenging circumstances. Regrettably, at the very last minute due to the rise of COVID-19 cases once again, they have to postpone the race to 9-10th Oct 2021. Previously, they also had to postpone their other races too – Titi Ultra and Penang Eco 100.

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As the pandemic has been spreading its wings in Sabah, it has brought a dramatic increase in cases and the Malaysian government was forced to impose a Movement Controlled Order (MCO) on the state. Subsequently, the Race Director of the TMBT Ultra Trail Marathon has announced that the trail running race has been rescheduled to 11th and 12th September, 2021.

“With the restrictions currently in place in Sabah under the Movement Control Order, the race cannot be conducted, and we consider it unlikely that a race in a format that is befitting of the 10th anniversary of the TMBT will be feasible in December.” said the TMBT organisers on their Facebook page.

Their next big race – Borneo Ultra Trail Marathon (BUTM) has also been tentatively scheduled for March 20th and 21st, 2021.

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(Facebook/Borneo TMBT Ultra Trail Marathon)

Some call Tokyo the ‘City of the Future’, but even the Japanese city is not spared from difficult decisions in 2020, having already postponed the Olympics to 2021. Subsequently, the Tokyo Marathon shares a similar fate, and has been postponed to October 17, 2021 according to their official website.

The organisers hopes to deliver the elite and mass running races together in the original field size and will determine details of the race further.

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