Tokyo Marathon postponed from October until March 2022

The Tokyo Marathon 2021, scheduled for Oct. 17, will be postponed until March 6, 2022, the Tokyo Marathon Foundation said Friday.

The decision, adopted at Friday’s extraordinary board meeting of the foundation in Tokyo, came as the government’s COVID-19 state of emergency has been extended until Sept. 30 for Tokyo and other areas.

According to conditions for holding the Tokyo Marathon, the event cannot take place if a coronavirus state of emergency is in place a month or less before it.

Runners who had planned to take part in the event next month will get priority to run in the 2022 event if they wish to do so.

If they do not run in the 2022 event, their participation fees and costs for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests for the virus will be fully refunded.

The Tokyo Marathon 2022, originally scheduled to take place on March 6, 2022, will be canceled due to the postponement of the 2021 race.

Runners who had the right to take part in the Tokyo Marathon 2022 will be asked about their plans for coming races.

The Tokyo Marathon 2021 was initially scheduled to be held on March 7 this year. It was put off until October due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Organizers had made efforts to hold the event next month by reducing the number of participants from 38,000 to 25,000 and dropping a plan to accept nonelite runners who live overseas.