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Osaka Marathon, One of World's Ten Biggest, Canceled (updated)

The 10th anniversary Osaka Marathon scheduled for Nov. 29, 2020 has been canceled due to the difficulty of ensuring that the event can be held in an atmosphere of safety and security during the ongoing coronavirus crisis.

We apologize to all the runners who had been eagerly looking forward to this year's race, to all the local supporters who turn out to cheer roadside every year, to our volunteers, to our sponsor companies and supporting organizations, and to everyone else involved in helping put the race on, but ask for your understanding of this decision.

We look forward to a swift end to this crisis and to putting on a better race than ever next time around. Please bear with us, and we'll be back for you. Thank you.

Osaka Marathon Organizing Committee

Translator's note: With 31,594 finishers last year the Osaka Marathon is one of the world's ten largest. This year it was to make its debut as a World Athletics bronze label race. Along with Osaka, the Dec. 13 Nara Marathon, 11,137 finishers last year, and the Oct. 25 Iwate Morioka City Marathon, 5,729 finishers last year, also announced their cancelations today. 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) - canceled
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) - canceled
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) - canceled
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

source article:
https://hochi.news/articles/20200610-OHT1T50353.html
translated by Brett Larner

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