10,000-Runner Shizuoka Marathon Discontinued Over Financial Issues After Three Years of Cancelation

A popular race that brought in 10,000 participants every year pre-pandemic, the organizers of the Shizuoka Marathon have announced that the event is being discontinued due to the difficulties of handling coronavirus protocols and of covering race expenses. Launched in 2014, the Shizuoka Marathon's course passed local landmarks related to shogun Ieyasu Tokugawa and offered views of Mt. Fuji, leading to its popularity as a mass-participation race. But amid the coronavirus pandemic its last three editions were all canceled.

On Aug. 23 the Shizuoka Marathon's executive committee, made up of members of the Shizuoka Chamber of Commerce and Industry and of the city government, announced that the race would be discontinued indefinitely. The committee cited the difficulty of preventing crowded conditions and of taking other measures against the coronavirus, as well as paying for the expenses involved in putting the race on amid soaring labor and material costs.

A spokesperson for the organizers commented, "We are very disappointed not to be able to live up to the hopes of the runners and everyone else involved in the race. But there is a possibility that we may be able bring it back at some point in the future if we are able to resolve these issues."

Shizuoka prefecture's two other main marathons are both set to return this season for the first time since pre-pandemic. The Shimada Oikawa Marathon will take place Oct. 30 on a limited scale after cancelations in 2020 and 2021, with the Hamamatsu City Marathon planning to make a comeback in February following the cancelation of its 2021 and 2022 editions.

source article:

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/lnews/shizuoka/20220823/3030017042.html

translated by Brett Larner