Other Sport / Great Bristol Half Marathon
Bristol half marathon cancelled for 2020
Organisers of the Great Bristol Half Marathon say safety is their top priority as they announce the cancellation of this year’s event due to the coronavirus pandemic.
A staple of the city’s sporting calendar, the 13-mile race was due to take place on September 27, but despite efforts to find a way of staging the run while ensuring social distancing can be maintained, the decision was ultimately taken to pull the plug.
Runners who had a place in this year’s event will be given the option to roll it over to the next Great Bristol Half Marathon, currently scheduled to take place on September 19, 2021, or receive a refund of their entry fee.
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Paul Foster, chief executive at the Great Run Company that organises the half marathon, said: “We understand this will be disappointing news to all those who were planning to take part, but the safety of participants, spectators and of all those associated with the staging of the events is always our number one priority.”
Foster continued: “Over the past few months, we have worked hard to try and find a way to stage the Great Bristol Half Marathon while observing social distancing rules and, most importantly, not impacting on our local NHS.
“However, as things stand, and even as the situation improves, it’s not going to be possible to meet these goals with any certainty, and so we have concluded that the best course of action is to cancel.
“This is even more disappointing given we had to cancel the Great Bristol 10k in May and so our loyal Bristol runners have not had the chance to take part in a Great Run this year. We are delighted to be able to offer our Half Marathon runners the opportunity to roll their place over and we look forward to welcoming them back in 2021.
“We want to thank all of our participants and partners for their continued support and understanding.”
Organisers say they are in the process of contacting everyone signed up for the Great Bristol Half Marathon by email with further information.
Many of those taking on the challenge would have been doing it for charities, many of which have suffered loss of income due to the lockdown measures.
Foster added: “Event day is only a small part of the challenge our runners take on, they put in a huge amount of preparation and training in the weeks and months before. They should be able to celebrate that achievement.
“We encourage those who were signed up to run the event to recognise all the hard work they have already put in and consider still passing on the money raised to the charity if possible.”
Read more: Great Bristol 10k 2020 cancelled
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