Shock as cancellations continue into 2021

by Brett Larner

On 3 July the organising committee of the Kumamoto Castle Marathon, scheduled for the third Sunday of February 2021, announced that the race has been cancelled.

Organisers cited the difficulty of preventing the spread of coronavirus infections at the marathon which had 10,444 finishers at this year’s edition.

Also cancelled are the accompanying shorter distance races including Kumanichi 30km, an elite-only event with 79 finishers this year. It is the first cancellation of the Kumanichi 30km in its 65-year-history. Between the mass-participation marathon, elite 30km and 3km fun run over 14,000 people took part this year. Next year was to have been the Marathon’s 10th anniversary running.

Translator’s note: As far as I know this is the first major Japanese race and first 10,000+ marathon worldwide in 2021 to cancel due to the coronavirus situation. It’s a major blow to any optimism about any kind of a return to the regular racing calendar in the foreseeable future.

Source article in Japanese