Scheduled for Mar. 20, the 43rd Matsue Ladies Half Marathon in Matsue, Shimane, has been canceled. This marks the third year in a row that the race has been canceled. A statement from the organizing committee read, "In light of the rapid spread of the highly infectious omicron variant throughout Japan, including within Shimane, it would be difficult to eliminate the risk to the runners, volunteers, and everyone else involved in the race."
Alongside Matsue's announcement, the Inter-University Athletic Union of Japan announced that the 25th National University Women's Half Marathon, held as part of the Matsue race, is also being canceled. The university women's half was to be a selection race for the 2022 Chengdu World University Games half marathon team, but after its cancelation selection will instead be made based on performances in the National University Track and Field Championships 10000 m to be held between Apr. 15 and 17.
The National University Men's Half Marathon in Tachikawa, Tokyo, is still scheduled to go ahead on its original date on Mar. 13.
translated by Brett Larner
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