BY GRANT LANCASTER
The organizers of the NYC Half marathon cancelled the race, which was scheduled for Sunday, citing concern for the rapidly changing situation with COVID-19 coronavirus in the city.
The effects of the virus on the city have made it difficult to organize an event with 25,000 runners throughout Brooklyn and Manhattan, keeping them from meeting their regular standards, where the safety of participants is priority, New York Road Runners officials said in a Tuesday press release.
Attempts to modify the race to reduce crowd sizes and encourage social distance between runners were not considered sufficient, according to the press release.
Runners who registered with New York Road Runners will receive a message in the next few days letting them select between a full refund or guaranteed non-complimentary entry into next year’s race. Those who registered with a nonprofit or tour group should contact the organization they got their tickets from.
