Beppu-Oita cancelled

by Brett Larner

With no end to the coronavirus crisis in sight, the organising committee of the Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon has made the decision to postpone the race’s 70th running from its planned date of 7 February 2021 to 6 February 2022 in an effort to prevent the spread of coronavirus among athletes and others involved in the event.

A virtual marathon will be held In lieu of the 2021 race, between 1–14 February 2021. Runners can complete the distance within the competition window no matter where or when they run. It can be run it all at once, in two parts on the weekend or even over the course of a week after work.

Those who don’t meet Beppu-Oita’s usual qualification criteria of a sub-3:30 time on a JAAF-certified course will be able to take part, receive a bib number and race t-shir,. The race will be capped at 5000 entrants.

Beppu-Oita is one of Japan’s most historic elite marathons with a small mass-participation field added relatively recently.

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