The Cardiff Half Marathon has been cancelled over safety concerns due to the coronavirus and moved to spring 2021.
The latest national sporting event to be effected by the corona pandemic is the Cardiff Half Marathon. The race, which was to be staged on Sunday October 4th, will now not take place this year, marking the first time in its history that it won’t be run.
In a statement released Thursday, June 4th, by the CARDIFF UNIVERSITY CARDIFF HALF announced
Chief Executive, Matt Newman, explains the decision.
‘We have been closely monitoring the situation surrounding the COVID-19 outbreak and the guidance issued by the Government and it is now clear that it will not be possible to stage an event of this scale in the autumn.
We would expect the Welsh Government to make further announcements in the coming months on a gradual return to a full sporting calendar and although lockdown restrictions have recently been eased in Wales, we understand there is no possibility of 27,500 participants and 100,000 spectators gathering safely in Cardiff on 4 October.
We are also conscious of the inter-dependency on various service providers for events of this size, including the availability of medical support services, volunteers, emergency services, transport and accommodation.
Having spent a significant amount of time talking with our sponsors, charity partners, Local Government and other key stakeholders, we have no choice but to make this difficult decision and have decided to communicate this now, with 4 months until race day, to provide clarity to all’.
The Cardiff Half Marathon typically sees more than £4m raised for charities and the hope is that only delaying the event will mean these good causes will not miss out on vital fundraising.
Next year will see two half marathons take place in the Welsh capital, with the autumn event still scheduled for 3 October 2021.
The Newport Wales Marathon – already postponed from April to October – has been pushed back again to a new date of 18 April 2021.
