At least the first wave of the coronavirus has survived New York. But the fear of a return of the disease is great – that’s why the legendary marathon will not take place this year. The race in Berlin also had to be canceled – for the first time since 1974.
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In view of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the legendary marathon events in New York and Berlin have to be canceled this year. The organizers of the races announced this on Wednesday. The 50th edition planned for November 1st in New York – the largest marathon in the world with tens of thousands of participants – has been canceled this year.
“The cancellation of this year’s New York City Marathon is incredibly disappointing for everyone involved, but it was clearly the course we had to take from a health and safety perspective,” said Michael Capiraso, President of the organizer “New York Road Runners”.
For the first time since 1974 there will be no Berlin Marathon this year; the traditional event was to take place on September 26th and 27th. “As much as we try, it is currently not possible to organize the BMW Berlin Marathon with its usual Berlin charm,” says the event’s homepage. At the same time, all participants were informed of the failure. It is also not possible to “hold the event later this year,” wrote the organizers.
The Corona regulation in Berlin and at the same time the uncertainty as to which conditions will still apply at a later point in time and whether participants can then also travel internationally were the decisive factors for the decision.
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio welcomed the decision. It shows that the health of runners and spectators comes first: “We are looking forward to the 50th run of the marathon in November 2021.” Since 1970, hundreds of thousands of people have run the New York Marathon through the US east coast metropolis. Last year more than 53,000 participants reached the finish line after 42.195 kilometers.
The Corona crisis hit New York with its eight million inhabitants particularly hard. In recent months, the city has been one of the epicentres of the pandemic, but has been able to significantly reduce the number of new infections and deaths and is now a success story in the United States in fighting the virus. However, the organizers were concerned that participants from other countries and states in the USA could raise the infection rate again. (dpa)
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