Jun 2020
8:37am, 17 Jun 2020
698 posts
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Dibble
I see Great North Run has now been cancelled and Brendan Foster seems to think London will be too. Should get the decision by Sunday.
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Jun 2020
8:38am, 17 Jun 2020
11,281 posts
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larkim
Seems inevitable, doesn't it? UKA have announced that the April 2021 race will be the selection race for the Olympics this week - that was probably the most likely option anyway from a timing perspective, but equally the timing of that announcement this week suggested to me that we'd be hearing something about London.
Then the dominos fall with all the other large volume Sept / Oct marathons too I suspect.
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Jun 2020
9:01am, 17 Jun 2020
3,998 posts
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Nelly
larks - whilst I don't disagree with you about London being inevitably cancelled, I think you're reading too much into the April 2021 race being the Olympics qualifier. I believe UKA had their hand forced on that as World Athletics suspension of the Olympic qualification period until December meant results achieved at an October London Marathon would not be able to count as Tokyo 2020 entry marks.
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Jun 2020
9:10am, 17 Jun 2020
11,282 posts
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larkim
True, true.
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Jun 2020
10:00am, 17 Jun 2020
16,709 posts
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Bazoaxe
Wonder if London would still run an elite race though
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Jun 2020
10:03am, 17 Jun 2020
1,681 posts
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auburnette
I am not expecting an elite-only London as I think they would worry about spectators and it would also seem to fly in the face of the current ethos/vision, it's as much of a mass fundraising event as it is a major road race.
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Jun 2020
10:05am, 17 Jun 2020
7,618 posts
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jda
Shutting down the roads for an elite race makes little sense, especially with spectator crowds being more of a problem than the event itself.
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Jun 2020
10:20am, 17 Jun 2020
16,710 posts
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Bazoaxe
Yeah good points I hadn't thought of. I guess the roads might be manageable if you went to a park with loops, but that might make the crowd issue worse.
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Jun 2020
10:45am, 17 Jun 2020
214 posts
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KeithL
Issue with an elite race is also who will pay for it and why? It wouldn't be great Telly and the elites dont run for fun.
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Jun 2020
10:49am, 17 Jun 2020
11,283 posts
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larkim
I can see the urge for elite races from the elites themselves though - they will need the "earners", and perhaps sponsorship funds would be sufficient to host an event. But equally, it's probably the crowds which will rule out both "mass" events and "elite" events. It's all well and good doing T&F in a closed stadium, but unless we pitch the best marathoners onto a track where spectators can be excluded, or some other similarly closed venue (e.g. a motor circuit?) it's difficult to see how congestion could be managed on a more traditional marathon route.
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