Berlin Marathon will not go ahead in September due to pandemic

[April 22, 2020]    (Reuters) - The Berlin Marathon will not go ahead as planned in September after Germany banned public gatherings of over 5,000 people until Oct. 24 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, organisers have said.

General view during the marathon REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke

They did not specify if the event, at which the last seven men's world records have been set, would be postponed or cancelled altogether.

"We have learned from the press conference of the Berlin Senate on April 21, that according to the Containment Ordinance, all events with more than 5,000 persons will be prohibited until Oct. 24," organisers said in a statement https://www.scc-events.com/en/corporate/events/event-update.html.

"This applies to many of our events, but especially to the Berlin Marathon, which cannot take place on Sept. 26 and 27 as planned.

"We will now deal with the consequences of the official prohibition of our events, coordinate the further steps and inform you as soon as we can."

The London Marathon, which was scheduled to be held on Sunday, has been postponed to Oct. 4 due to the virus, which has infected 2.5 million people globally causing over 172,900 deaths.

(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)

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