Welcoming over 10,000 runners every year, the Shizuoka Marathon's organizing committee today announced the cancelation of next year's race. "Corona case numbers are down right now, but concerns about a sixth wave of infections remain," the organizers said in their announcement. It is the third year in a row that the event has been canceled.
Launched in 2014, the Shizuoka Marathon is the largest marathon in the prefecture with over 10,000 participants annually. It was canceled last year in the early days of the pandemic. Next year's race was scheduled to have been held on Mar. 13, but as per their statement the organizing committee remains unconvinced about the future prospects for staging the event safely and opted to instead cancel the race for the third time in a row. Their statement said in part, "Our #1 priority is the health and lives of the runners, race staff, and courseside supporters. We hope that the coronavirus pandemic comes to an end soon and that we can again put on the marathon you've all come to enjoy."
Translator's note: Shizuoka prefecture's current 7-day COVID-19 new case count average is 1 (one). Its highest-ever weekly average was 559. Japan's weekly average as a whole is currently 828, less than the current average for New York City, which hosts its marathon this weekend. In its last edition in 2019 the Shizuoka Marathon had 9,802 finishers, with an additional 1,722 finishers in its accompanying 10 km race, and winning times of 2:13:41 for men and 2:34:45 for women.
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translated and edited by Brett Larner
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