Shonan International Marathon Canceled

Originally, scheduled for Dec. 6 before being rescheduled to Feb. 28, then cut back to a 25 km race, the Shonan International Marathon has announced that it has been forced to cancel the event in the face of rising coronavirus numbers throughout Japan. One of Japan's largest marathons with 16,821 finishers in its last edition, Shonan is also one of the few large races put on by a private company instead of a local government. Along with rescheduling and cutting back in distance, they had planned to implement other coronavirus countermeasures like eliminating water tables and drastically small wave starts over a long period of time, but in their announcement of the event's final cancelation the organizers cited the currently increasing numbers of infected in Japan's ongoing third wave and the fact that the situation is worse than it had been on Aug. 28.

Despite the disappointing news, organizers voiced optimism that the countermeasures they had developed would be of use to other canceled races across the country in bringing their events back into reality in the coming months and years. The spring, 2021 calendar of major Japanese marathon announcements to date:

2021

Jan. 10 - Ibusuki Nanohana Marathon (10,954) - canceled
Jan. 31 - Katsuta Marathon (10,627) - canceled
Jan. 31 - Osaka International Women's Marathon (423) - scheduled with limited field size
Feb. 7 - Beppu-Oita Marathon (3,141) - canceled
Feb. 14 - Ehime Marathon (9,554) - canceled
Feb. 14 - Nobeoka Nishi Nippon Marathon (536) - canceled
Feb. 21 - Kyoto Marathon (13,894) - canceled
Feb. 21 - Kochi Ryoma Marathon (10,924) - canceled
Feb. 21 - Kumamoto Castle Marathon (10,444) - canceled
Feb. 21 - Kitakyushu Marathon (9,485) - canceled
Feb. 21 - Okinawa Marathon (7,990) - canceled
Feb. 28 - Shonan International Marathon (16,821) - canceled
Feb. 28 - Himeji Castle Marathon (6,938) - canceled
Feb. 28 - Iwaki Sunshine Marathon (5,259) - canceled
Feb. 28 - Lake Biwa Marathon (191) - scheduled
Mar. 7 - Kagoshima Marathon (9.356) - canceled
Mar. 7 - Tokyo Marathon (151) - postponed to October 17
Mar. 14 - Shizuoka Marathon (9,802) - canceled
Mar. 14 - Nagoya Women's Marathon (96) - scheduled with limited field size

Mar. 21 - Itabashi City Marathon (13,310) - canceled
Mar. 21 - Koga Hanamomo Marathon (8,766) - canceled
Mar. 21 - Saga Sakura Marathon (8.509) - canceled

Mar. 28 - Tokushima Marathon (11,010) - decision by end of 2020
Mar. 28 - Sakura Marathon (5,614) - canceled
Apr. 18 - Kasumigaura Marathon (10,096) - scheduled
Apr. 18 - Nagano Marathon (8,082) - scheduled with limited field size

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