'It's The Right Thing To Do': Organizers Say Twin Cities Marathon To Go Virtual This Year
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- As almost every other major annual event has done since the outbreak of COVID-19 in the U.S., the Twin Cities Marathon has now been officially altered as a result of the pandemic.
Organizers say this year's marathon is going to be a virtual event. The marathon was originally scheduled for the weekend of October 2-4, and will now be stretched across the month of October.
"In the early months of the COVID-19 crisis, we hoped to hold an in-person Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon Weekend in a manner that was safe for runners, spectators, volunteers, and the community at large," Twin Cities In Motion president Mike Logan said. "Based on guidance from public health authorities and our medical directors, however, we have determined that is not possible. We make the decision with a heavy heart, but we know it's the right thing to do for our runners and our community."
This year would have marked the 39th annual marathon weekend. Organizers say that the event usually draws about 30,000 participants, in addition to 300,000 spectators.
Twin Cities In Motion also runs other events throughout the year, including the Red, White & Boom! half marathon event, and the Twin Cities Orthopedics' Women Run the Cities. Everything that's been scheduled is now going to be virtual this year.
Twin Cities In Motion says that they will provide partial credit to participants who signed up for in-person races, and registration is now open for all virtual events.
