New York City Marathon Was Postponed, Now Canceled For 2020

The New York City Marathon was supposed to be held on November 1 but has now been postponed until November 7, 2021. This year would have been the 50th Anniversary of the New York City Marathon and big events were planned around the iconic race. Officially, the 50th anniversary will now be pushed back a year.

This isn't the first major marathon to be canceled or postponed because of concerns about the coronavirus. The Boston Marathon was canceled for the first time in its 124-year history. Organizers are planning to hold a virtual event in its place. Runners will have to verify that they ran 26.2 miles on their own will receive their finisher’s medal. Well, that's nice, but obviously it's not the same.

According to the article at News10 the New York City Marathon is going to try to do a virtual event like the Boston Marathon. Runners registered for the 2020 marathon can participate in a virtual 26.2-mile race from Oct. 17-Nov. 1. Further details on the virtual marathon will be released in July.

So what should runners do that were already registered for the New York City Marathon? Runners will be offered a full refund of their entry fee or a guaranteed entry to either the 2021, 2022 or 2023 New York City Marathon.

Michael Capiraso, president of the New York Road Runners, the event organizers, said in a statement on the NYRR website.  “Canceling this year’s TCS New York City Marathon is incredibly disappointing for everyone involved, but it was clearly the course we needed to follow from a health and safety perspective.”

Well, of course, this was the year I was going to run the New York City Marathon and now it's canceled. No, I wasn't really going to run, but what a great excuse to use now. I actually ran a half marathon in my younger days and I know how much training and dedication it takes to get ready for a long race like this. I feel bad for all the disappointed organizers, volunteers, and runners.