Nationwide Children’s Hospital Columbus Marathon & ½ Marathon cancelled

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH)– The 2020 Nationwide Children’s Hospital Columbus Marathon & ½ Marathon has been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The race was scheduled for October 18th.

The organization announced Monday the event’s board of trustees voted unanimously to provide a full refund of registration fees for 2020 registrants.

“No one at the finish line last October could have anticipated that we would cancel the event for this year, but it is absolutely the correct thing to do,” said Board Chairman Dan Leite. “The safety of our athletes, volunteers, first responders, team and the entire community is the top priority for our event.  With the ongoing pandemic and based on consultation with our valued partners at Nationwide, Nationwide Children’s Hospital and the City of Columbus, it became quite apparent to the Board that the best way to protect everyone’s safety would be to cancel our event for 2020.  It was a very difficult decision to make but one we strongly believe is in the best interest of everyone involved.”

Since 2012, the event has raised $10 million for Nationwide Children’s Hospital.

“It pains us to not be able to bring our race forward in 2020, but these are no ordinary times,” said Race Director Darris Blackford. “Everyone has faced changes to our ‘normal’ ways of life. When you think about the best health and safety practices needed to help slow the spread of the virus, holding a major running footrace isn’t the responsible thing to do right now.”

Registered athletes will receive specific instructions in coming weeks about how to obtain their refund for the 2020 event.