The 2020 Boston Marathon has been canceled — at least in its traditional format.
Organizers announced the “difficult,” if somewhat expected, decision Thursday to …
The 2020 Boston Marathon has been canceled — at least in its traditional format.
Organizers announced the “difficult,” if somewhat expected, decision Thursday to cancel this year’s marathon, which had previously been postponed until Sept.14, due to the coronavirus pandemic. Boston Mayor Marty Walsh said that while they had held out hope that the 30,000-participant race could be run, the still-uncontained outbreak of the highly contagious virus meant that “this kind of event would not be responsible or realistic on September 14, or any time this year.”
But that doesn’t mean that those who signed up to run the 2020 Boston Marathon can’t still walk away with a medal.
In the absence of the usual in-person marathon, the Boston Athletic Association announced that it will hold a “virtual” race for the would-be participants.
“While we can’t bring tens of thousands of people from around the world to Massachusetts for the marathon this year, we do hope to bring the spirit of the Boston Marathon to the world,” BAA CEO Tom Grilk said during a press conference Thursday.
