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NYC Half cancelled due to coronavirus

Natasha Wodak and thousands of other NYC Half entrants won't get to race this weekend

Yet another race, the NYC Half, has been added to the list of coronavirus casualties after organizers announced the race’s cancellation yesterday. The race was scheduled for this Sunday, March 15. With the announcement, 25,000 entrants are out a race, including Canadian Natasha Wodak.

 

In January, Wodak broke the Canadian half-marathon record in Houston, becoming the first woman to run a sub-70 half-marathon (Andrea Seccafien beat Wodak’s time just a couple of weeks later for the current national record of 1:09:38). She was headed to New York coming off a NACAC bronze medal from the Pan Am Cross-Country Cup in Victoria on February 29, looking fit and like a threat to better her 1:09:41 PB and take back the Canadian record.

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This would have been Wodak’s second time racing the NYC Half. In 2015, she placed fifth in New York, in 1:11:20. She posted a story to her Instagram page in which she voiced her disappointment with the cancellation.

RELATED: Natasha Wodak becomes first Canadian woman to run under 1:10 for half-marathon

“I was so excited about going to New York this weekend,” she said. “It was going to be awesome, I was so ready to race. Definitely disappointed.” She also added that, instead of racing New York, she will run a local St. Patrick’s Day 5K in Vancouver. Last year, Wodak raced the on St. Patrick’s Day and set a PB of 15:36. Although it’s not the race she was hoping for, she’ll certainly be looking to have another good performance this year.

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Runners who were signed up for the NYC Half have been given two options by race organizers: receive a full refund of their entry fee or guaranteed entry to the 2021 NYC Half. The latter is just a placeholder, however, and entrants who go with that option will have to pay for next year’s event.

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