New York, Berlin marathons canned over Covid concerns

NEW YORK • The New York City Marathon, the world's largest marathon and one of the city's biggest annual spectacles, has been cancelled this year as concerns about the spread of the coronavirus continue to dash hopes of holding large-scale events, organisers announced yesterday.

The race, one of the most prestigious and lucrative events of its kind, would have celebrated its 50th anniversary on Nov 1.

It is one of the highlights of the endurance sports calendar, attracting more than 50,000 runners, 10,000 volunteers and roughly one million fans, who line nearly every accessible yard of the course through the city's five boroughs.

But City officials and New York Road Runners (NYRR), which owns and organises the event, decided holding the race would be too risky. Public health experts have said mass events, especially those that bring people together from across the globe, will remain a danger until a treatment or a vaccine for Covid-19, the disease caused by the virus, is widely available.

Michael Capiraso, the chief executive of NYRR, said he and other organisers had held out hope that the race could happen. They decided to cancel before having to spend more money to organise it.

Calling the cancellation "incredibly disappointing", he said "it was clearly the course we needed to follow from a health and safety perspective".

"While the marathon is an iconic and beloved event in our city, I applaud New York Road Runners for putting the health and safety of both spectators and runners first," said Mayor Bill de Blasio in a statement. "We look forward to hosting the 50th running of the marathon in November of 2021."

NYRR carries cancellation insurance for the race, which eases what will be a significant blow for the organisation.

The marathon is the signature event and among the main revenue generators for the organisation, which collects a little more than US$100 million (S$139 million) each year but had to cancel two other major events this spring - the New York City and Brooklyn half marathons.

According to tax filings, those races accounted for the bulk of the running organisation's US$41 million in race entry fees in 2018, the last year for which figures are available.

The Berlin Marathon, another World Marathon Major, was also cancelled yesterday, making it the third of the six races to be canned. The race was originally scheduled for Sept 26-27 but organisers had already said it could not go ahead because of Germany's ban on public gatherings of more than 5,000 people until Oct 24.

"Over the past weeks, we have put a lot of commitment and effort into examining all options for holding the BMW Berlin Marathon 2020 under the given conditions," Berlin organisers said in a statement.

The statement said a comprehensive feasibility analysis showed, however, that the marathon could not be held at a later date this year either.

Weather conditions and shorter days would make it difficult and there was also uncertainty about the regulations after October.

"The question of whether athletes will be able to travel internationally again by then can also not yet be answered," said Jurgen Lock, managing director of SCC Events.

Weeks earlier, Boston cancelled its marathon for the first time in the event's 124-year history.

The London Marathon has been postponed until Oct 4, while the Tokyo Marathon was held with a reduced field of elite runners.

The Chicago Marathon is still scheduled for Oct 11.

NYTIMES, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS