The 2020 London Marathon will be an elite-athlete only event, organisers have announced.
Elite races for men, women and wheelchair athletes will take place on an enclosed looped course in St James’s Park on October 4 in a secure biosphere, with the times counting towards Tokyo 2020 Olympic qualification.
Athletes confirmed for the race include Eliud Kipchoge, Kenenisa Bekele, women’s world record holder Brigid Kosgei and para athletes David Weir and Manuela Schar.
“And in that journey, one of the pieces to celebrate in a way – is that actually this will make it the most inclusive London marathon, we believe, in history – because people have 23 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds in which to take part.”
In 2019, the event raised a record-breaking £66.4million for charitable causes, and Brasher said £20m had been raised for good causes this year at the time of cancellation.
Mark Brider, chief executive of Children with Cancer UK, said: “Bringing in over £3 million worth of donations a year, the Virgin Money London Marathon is Children with Cancer UK’s largest single fundraising event, so we are of course extremely disappointed to hear the news that the Marathon will not be taking place in its usual format.
“This must have been an incredibly difficult decision for organisers to take, however the welfare and safety of marathon participants, including our team of over 1,200 runners who signed up to run for Children with Cancer UK, comes first.”
In the wake of the announcement British Athletics says it will be “a priority to explore all options and review plans regarding selection” for next year’s Olympics. The selection of athletes for the marathon will occur in 2021.
