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2021 Kyoto Marathon, Kitakyushu Marathon and Koga Hanamomo Marathon Canceled

The 2021 Kyoto Marathon will take a step in a new direction and will be held as on online-only marathon. By using an app on their phones, runners can run the online marathon whenever and wherever they like.

To date 142,347 runners have traversed the streets of Kyoto and smiled at it riches, and we're grateful to every one of them. We extend our thanks to each of you, and to all those who have played a role in making our event possible. In return, we want to give something back and hope that the online marathon will motivate you all and serve as a bridge across these troubled coronavirus times to a better day to come. Even if we can't be together in Kyoto, our hearts are still as one. Think of Kyoto with each step you run and let this new kind of marathon give you strength to reach your tomorrow.

We'll also be holding a running event at the marathon's start point at Nishi-Kyogoku Sports Park on its original date, February 21, 2020. Details on both it and the online marathon will be published on the race website in early September. We'll be getting ready so you all can enjoy our 10th running in 2022 and look forward to seeing you all then.

Kyoto Marathon Organizing Committee

Founded to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Kitakyushu's incorporation as a city, after seven successful editions we have been making preparations for the Kitakyushu Marathon's eighth running in February next year. While moving forward we have been carefully studying the issues surrounding the status of the coronavirus crisis and have come to the conclusion that we cannot guarantee the safety of everyone involved in the event, from runners to volunteers to emergency staff. As a result we have unfortunately decided to cancel our 2021 race.

As the organizing committee it is a great disappointment for us to have to make this decision and we apologize to everyone who had looked forward to the race, but we ask you all for your understanding. We will take every precaution we can to make our next edition a safe and secure event imbued with every ounce of Kitakyushu's unique hospitality. We look forward to the day we can all put all of this behind us and to welcoming you back with our warmest smiles.

Kitakyushu Marathon Organizing Committee

Thank you for your support of our event. We thank you for your patronage. With regard to the 9th edition of the Koga Hanamomo Marathon scheduled for mid-March, 2021, in light of the uncertainty presented by the spread of COVID-19, we have determined that the risks to participants and staff alike are too great to take adequate steps to mitigate and have made the decision to postpone our 9th running by one year.

As the organizers we have held extension discussions based on the Japan Sports Agency and JAAF's published guidelines for staging sports events and running competitions, examining ways to protect both participants and those living along the course and conducting simulations of the effects of measures such as reducing the field size, installing sanitizer dispensers, and measuring people's temperatures.

Unfortunately, we were forced to come to the conclusion that it would be almost impossible to guarantee physical safety, and that the best solution was to postpone for one year. We ask for your understanding of the situation.

The tentative date for the postponed race will be Mar. 13, 2022. We will begin taking applications as usual in the fall of 2021. See the race website for more information as it is announced. In addition, runners who had entered this past March's race prior to its cancelation will still have the option to defer their entries to 2022 under the system announced when the race was canceled. We will continue to prepare for when we can hold the race again and hope that you are looking forward to it too.

Koga Hanamomo Marathon Race Committee

This was the second year in a row that Koga has canceled due to the coronavirus. It and Kyoto are the fifth and sixth large Japanese marathons of 2021 to cancel so far, Kyoto the largest among them with 13,894 finishers this year. 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, and 2021 announcements:

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) - canceled
Nov. 23: Ohtawara Marathon (1,697) - canceled
Nov. 29: Osaka Marathon (31,594) - canceled
Nov. 29: Mt. Fuji International Marathon (7,200) - canceled
Nov. 29 Nagasaki Peace marathon (1st running, field of 10,000) - canceled
Dec. 6: Shonan International Marathon (16,821) - postponed to Feb. 28, 2021
Dec. 6: Naha Marathon (14,660) - canceled
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) - canceled
Dec. 20: Hofu Marathon (2,724) - registrations postponed
Dec. 20: Mie Matsuzaka Marathon (1st running, field of 7,000) - canceled

2021

Jan. 10 - Ibusuki Nanohana Marathon (10,954) - canceled
Jan. 31 - Katsuta Marathon (10,627) - canceled
January - Osaka International Women's Marathon (423) - TBA
Feb. 14 - Ehime Marathon (9,554) - registrations postponed
Feb. 21 - Kyoto Marathon (13,894) - canceled
Feb. 21 - Kochi Ryoma Marathon (10,924) - scheduled
Feb. 28 - Iwaki Sunshine Marathon (5,259) - scheduled
February - Kumamoto Castle Marathon (10,444) - canceled
February - Kitakyushu Marathon (9,485) - canceled
February - Okinawa Marathon (7,990) - TBA
February - Himeji Castle Marathon (6,938) - TBA
February - Beppu-Oita Marathon (3,141) - TBA
February - Nobeoka Nishi Nippon Marathon (536) - TBA
Mar. 7 - Tokyo Marathon (151) - scheduled
Mar. 14 - Shizuoka Marathon (9,802) - canceled
March - Koga Hanamomo Marathon (8,766) - canceled
March - Kagoshima Marathon (9.356) - TBA
March - Saga Sakura Marathon (8.509) - TBA
March - Sakura Marathon (5,614) - TBA
March - Nagoya Women's Marathon (96) - TBA

source articles:
http://www.kyoto-marathon.com/news/detail/?no=2
https://bit.ly/3gsT22E
https://bit.ly/31fAnkz
translated and edited by Brett Larner

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