London Marathon to run elite-only event

London Marathon organizers announced on Thursday that their event’s mass participation race is cancelled and an elite-only run will take place on October 4. There will be men’s women’s races, as well as wheelchair events. COVID-19 forced organizers to postpone the event in the spring, and for the past few months, they have been holding onto hope that their October rain date could go ahead as planned. While there will be no race for the close to 40,000 registered amateur runners this year, the elite event will present some of the world’s top marathoners with an opportunity to race in this fractured season.

? It’s with a heavy heart that we can confirm, for the first time since 1981, the Virgin Money London Marathon will not be taking place in its usual format.

Read the full update: https://t.co/mJ9jhItAqB#LondonMarathon #The40thRace pic.twitter.com/VFXEiY89No

— TCS London Marathon (@LondonMarathon) August 6, 2020

Elite races

Athletes in the elite-only races will run multiple loops of a short course in London’s St. James’s Park, and times will be eligible for Olympic qualification. There will be no public access to the course for spectators, but the event will be broadcast by BBC Sports. 

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The race will feature elites from all over the world (assuming they are permitted by their home countries to travel internationally), including world record-holder Brigid Kosgei, but the Eliud Kipchoge versus Kenenisa Bekele face-off will be the main storyline for the event. Heading into the 2020 season, London was the race on everyone’s radar, specifically because of the impending showdown between these two men. When the season was put on hold and the majority of races were cancelled, fans of the sport began to worry they might never get the chance to see the two run head to head again. With Thursday’s news, it looks like the world may get a Kipchoge-Bekele battle after all. 

Enjoy the P R O C E S S.

With uncertainty surrounding a goal race it can be hard to find the motivation to train, but remember, there’s no such thing as a bad run.

The mood boost, fitness gains and sense of achievement will outweigh the sore muscles! ?⁣⁣#MondayMotivation pic.twitter.com/p2SMbpgIKp

— TCS London Marathon (@LondonMarathon) June 8, 2020

London Marathon 2021

It was also announced on Thursday that the 2021 edition of the London Marathon will be moved from its original April date to October 3. April isn’t that far away, and with COVID-19 numbers still high around the world, the chances of holding a spring race are looking less and less likely. With that in mind, organizers chose to make this change to have the best chance to hold a mass participation event next year. Runners who were registered for this year’s event will have the option to defer their race entries until the 2021, 2022 or 2023 runnings of the race or participate in the virtual event.