In a move that the many thousands of registrants had feared, the Boston Athletic Association announced that the actual running of the 2020 Boston Marathon will be canceled. It had been moved in to September due to the coronavirus but now even that date has been canceled.
The 2020 Boston Marathon is Canceled
Link: Boston Marathon Canceled
The announcement was made today by the mayor of Boston due to it being a mass event. This means that it will not be happening in September or at all this year.
The 2020 Boston Marathon Will Be Only Virtual
Instead, the BAA is turning the September dates into a virtual Boston lineup of events, including running the virtual Boston Marathon (times must be submitted using GPS devices and it must be completed in less than 6 hours on any day within the virtual Boston week), panel discussions, and more.
There is some good news – all entrants are free to get a refund on their registration fee for the 2020 Boston Marathon. Those that want to run the virtual events can opt for that but the BAA has said that there will be communication soon about what the actual virtual event will cost (meaning it should not cost what the actual race did). Those that already took a refund will be eligible to participate still as well.
The virtual packet for finishers will include a t-shirt, medal and runner’s bib. At this time, it looks like this event will only be open for runners that had been actual entrants in the 2020 Boston Marathon – but it would be so cool if they would allow any runner to sign-up! I will do that on day one!
The qualifying time used for the 2020 Boston Marathon can be used for 2021 and they are working out how this will work. Registration should open in September again.
Boston now joins Berlin as a major fall marathon to cancel due to limits on numbers of participants. I think it is likely we will see more races join this list as well, unfortunately.
Will you participate in the virtual Boston Marathon? If you were not an entrant, would you be interested in signing up?
