Of course, none of us can predict what is going to happen in a month from now let alone 7 years from now. But, can you imagine the race organizers of this one marathon when they opened registration 7 years before 2021?! Let’s take a look at this.
Marathon Opened Registration 7 Years Ahead of Time
Link: Göteborgsvarvet Marathon Registration
Early registration is nothing new. It is a way to get people to sign-up for a marathon or similar race to give the race directors both an idea of the numbers of entrants as well as early cash to use for the first stage of preparation. In exchange for asking you to commit to something months away, you are often rewarded with an early registration fee or some kind of discount.
Well, what about a marathon that opens registration 7 years before it takes place – with no early bird discount! Not only that, but they said they would close registration 6 years before the race! I was reminded recently about this race that I had written about 7 years ago so decided to refresh my memory on it.
It is the Göteborgsvarvet Marathon in Gothenburg, Sweden. It is set to take place September 19, 2021 as this is the 400th anniversary if the city. The city is no stranger to running events as it has hosted the world’s largest half marathon (over 60,000 runners) for years. But, it was a bit of a publicity move, I would guess, back in 2014 that prompted them to open registration for a single marathon that would not take place for 7 years!
Now that the race is just one month away, can you believe what happened in the time since they announced the race registration?! I mean, the race still may not take place if city officials think any kind of outbreak is too severe but who would have thought back in 2014 that a marathon would be in jeopardy 7 years away because of a worldwide virus that shut down much of the world’s travel and many industries for months on end?
My guess is that this is the one and only marathon that will ever try to plan this far ahead again! For what it is worth, they have reopened registration if you are interested in running it. 🙂
So, did you sign up back in 2014 and are you running this year? 🙂
