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Kobe Marathon Canceled, Citing Pressure of Other Races Having Canceled - 19,444 Finishers Last Year

a press release from the Kobe Marathon organizing committee

Notification of Cancellation of Kobe Marathon 2020

We are very sorry to inform you that the Kobe Marathon 2020 has been canceled, our board meeting has decided finally. We have been preparing for the event to be held on November 15 this year, but due to the following reasons regarding the coronavirus, we have no choice but to cancel the race this year. We would sincerely like to apologize to all people who were looking forward to participating in the Kobe Marathon 2020.

* Main reasons for cancellation of the Kobe Marathon 2020:

1) Some denials of participation by medical staff due to coronavirus.
2) Difficulty of maintaining social distancing by runners during the race.
3) To avoid the 2nd and 3rd wave of spread of infection due to overcrowding during the race.
4) A sharp decrease in the number of entries from overseas.
5) Decrease in overall number of volunteers due to coronavirus.
6) Most of the road races scheduled in November in Japan have been cancelled. It would be difficult to hold only the Kobe Marathon 2020.

We appreciate your understanding. Thanks and stay safe.

Kobe Marathon 2020
Kobe Marathon Executive Committee
Vice Chairperson
Mitsuru Nishiue

Note: This was published by the organizers in English. It has been slightly edited for clarity. The Kobe Marathon is a World Athletics silver label road race, with 19,444 finishers last year. In addition to Kobe's announcement, the Dec. 20 Hofu Marathon has announced that it will not open entries in July as originally scheduled and will make a determination at an unspecified date about whether the race will go ahead. A breakdown of the current situation among Japan's 29 main marathons from October through December, representing over 300,000 finishers total among each race's previous edition:

Oct. 4: Tohoku Miyagi Fukko Marathon (7,457) - canceled
Oct. 4: Matsumoto Marathon (6,455)- canceled
Oct. 11: Niigata City Marathon (6,784) - canceled
Oct. 18: Chiba Aqualine Marathon (9,541) - canceled
Oct. 25: Kanazawa Marathon (10,408) - canceled
Oct. 25: Mito Komon Marathon (9,995) - canceled
Oct. 25: Shimada Oikawa Marathon (6,589) - canceled
Oct. 25: Iwate Morioka City Marathon (5,729) - entries suspended until end of June
Nov. 1: Yokohama Marathon (25,195) - canceled
Nov. 1: Toyama Marathon (12,603) - canceled
Nov. 1: Shimonoseki Kaikyo Marathon (8,650) - canceled
Nov. 8: Okayama Marathon (13,491) - canceled
Nov. 8: Fukuoka Marathon (11,349) - canceled
Nov. 8: Ibigawa Marathon (5,818) - canceled
Nov. 15: Kobe Marathon (19,444) - canceled
Nov. 22: Tsukuba Marathon (11,461) - canceled
Nov. 23: Fukuchiyama Marathon (6,429) - entries suspended until late June
Nov. 23: Ohtawara Marathon (1,697) - canceled
Nov. 29: Osaka Marathon (31,594) - entries suspended
Nov. 29: Fujisan Marathon (7,200) - entries suspended until late June
Nov. 29 Nagasaki Peace marathon (1st running, field of 10,000) - canceled
Dec. 6: Shonan International Marathon (16,821) - entries suspended
Dec. 6: Naha Marathon (14,660) - entries suspended until August
Dec. 6: Fukuoka International Marathon (370) - TBA
Dec. 13: Saitama International Marathon (13,340) - canceled
Dec. 13: Nara Marathon (11,137) - entries suspended
Dec. 13: Aoshima Taiheiyo Marathon (8,043) - entries suspended until August
Dec. 20: Hofu Marathon (2,724) - entries suspended
Dec. 20: Mie Matsuzaka Marathon (1st running, field of 7,000) - entries suspended until end of June

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