The 2020 New York City Marathon has been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic,
New York Road Runners and the Mayor’s Office of the City of New York officially made the announcement on Wednesday morning.
After months of discussion among organizers, city officials and health experts, it was determined that staging a marathon with more than 50,000 runners and fans lined alongside the 26.2-mile course from Staten Island to Manhattan would be impossible to practice safe social distancing despite dropping infection rates in New York.
“Canceling this year’s TCS New York City Marathon is incredibly disappointing for everyone involved, but it was clearly the course we needed to follow from a health and safety perspective,” New York Road Runners president and CEO Michael Capiraso said in a statement.