As the COVID-19 epidemic escalates in China and around the world, mass events including marathons have been implementing safety precautions or more drastic measures.
Unfortunately, as new cases of COVID-19 (coronavirus) have been confirmed within Japan and it’s capital, Tokyo, the organisers of the Tokyo Marathon has chosen to limit its participation by only holding the race for elites in the interest of public health and safety.
The Abbot World Marathon Major race originally scheduled for 1st March 2020 has cancelled the race for the semi-elite, general, charity, 10km runners and have allowed them to defer their entry to the Tokyo Marathon 2021 race instead. Registrations to the marathon is usually conducted via ballot for the general public as the race attracts 37,500 runners from around the globe.
On the Tokyo Marathon’s website:
“We have been preparing for the Tokyo Marathon 2020 (Sunday, March 1) while implementing preventive safety measures, however, now that case of COVID-19 has been confirmed within Tokyo, we cannot continue to launch the event within the scale we originally anticipated and we regret to inform you the following:”
“The Tokyo Marathon 2020 will be held only for the marathon elites and the wheelchair elites.”
