Event organizers cancelled the marathon in response to ongoing health concerns.
The Chicago Marathon, previously slated for Sunday, October 11, has been canceled amid coronavirus concerns.
“On Monday, July 13, event organizers and the City of Chicago announced the decision to cancel the 2020 Bank of America Chicago Marathon and all race weekend activities in response to the ongoing public health concerns brought on by the coronavirus pandemic,” organizers wrote on the event’s webpage.
Registered participants can choose either to receive a full refund for their 2020 race, or choose to defer their place to a later marathon, be it in 2021, 2022, 2023. For those who choose the former option, the process is said to take a number of months. Those participants will also be contacted by email for further details.
“The Chicago Marathon is our city’s beloved annual celebration of more than 45,000 runners, as well as tens of thousands of volunteers, spectators and city residents, all of whom come together race weekend as one community here in our city,” said Mayor Lori Lightfoot.
“Like all Chicagoans, I’m personally disappointed that this year’s event won’t take place as originally planned, however, we look forward to welcoming all runners and their cheering squads once again when the Chicago Marathon returns to our city in full force for another very exciting race.”
Large scale event cancellations began back in March when the stay-at-home order was first introduced. First went those events scheduled for the spring, then the summer — most notably, Lollapalooza and Taste of Chicago — and now, due to the unpredictable nature of the viral spread, fall events are now following suit.
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[Featured image: @chimarathon]