Boston Marathon is pushed back 5 months to September
Massachusetts officials announced Friday that the world-famous Boston Marathon is postponed this year due to the coronavirus outbreak. The race that was set to take place Monday, April 20, is now scheduled for September 14.
"Our priority right now is the health and safety of our runners… we want to keep people safe," Boston Mayor Marty Walsh said at a press conference Friday.
Officials said the roads will not be closed on April 20, and strongly discouraged runners from running the race course on their own.
The Boston Athletic Association said in a statement Friday that it "understands the city's decision," and will provide registered participants and volunteers with "additional information in the coming days."
"I know this is a change … but it's certainly the right thing to do," said Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker.
"As we've seen before, this marathon defines resilience," he said.
The Master Tournament has also been postponed to an unspecified later date.