September Could Be A Blockbuster Month for Racing

Not since the Sydney Olympics in 2000 has  the month of September held more interest for athletics and road running fans if the current schedule of events holds. The month already routinely features great competitions like the Wanda Diamond League Final, and the New Balance Fifth Avenue Mile. This September might also feature a superb array of events that have been rescheduled from the spring due to the COVID-19 pandemic, though this could change if fall races are scratched. Already the BMW Berlin Marathon, which is typically also run in September, has now been canceled for 2020. 

Updated Track Meet Schedule

In terms of traditional athletics meetings, the two final stops of the Wanda Diamond League, Brussels and Zürich, are scheduled for Sept. 4 and 11. Also, the traditional season-ending meetings in Chorzow and Zagreb are on the calendar for Sept. 6 and 15, respectively. Added to these five meetings are three more rescheduled events: Dessau, Rovereto, and Ostrava, all on Sept. 8. (Dessau was originally scheduled for May 20, and Ostrava for May 22.)  The track season will end with Zagreb under the current schedule.

September Road Racing Calendar 

On the road running side, traditional September events like the Birell Grand Prix 10K in Prague (Sept. 5); Faxon Law New Haven Road Race (Sept.7); Copenhagen Half-Marathon, Great North Run and New Balance Fifth Avenue Mile (Sept. 13); Blackmores Sydney Marathon, Dam tot Damloop, and Rock ‘n’ Roll Philadelphia Half-Marathon (Sept. 20); and ING Route du Vin Half-Marathon, and Maratonina Città di Udine (Sept. 27) are all scheduled for their traditional weekends.

However, some of the world’s best spring road races will join these traditional September events—creating an exceptionally crowded calendar. Here is a summary of the events which have been pushed forward from the spring into September:

Weekend of Sept. 5–7 (Labor Day weekend in the USA):

BOLDER Boulder 10K

Cork City Marathon

CSOB Bratislava City Marathon

Great Manchester Run 10K

Meia-Maratona Internacional de Lisboa

Santiago Marathon

Sportisimo Prague Int’l Half-Marathon

TD Bank Reedy River Run

Volkswagen Bucharest Half-Marathon

 

Weekend of Sept. 12–14:

Boston Marathon (held on Monday)

 

Weekend of Sept. 19–20:

Bay to Breakers 12K

Brighton Marathon & 10K

Carlsbad 5000

Deep RiverRock Belfast City Marathon

DOZ Maraton Lodz

Lilac Bloomsday Run 12K

Medio Maratón Azkoitia-Azpeitia Memorial Diego García

Padova Marathon

Treviso Marathon

Vodafone Istanbul Half-Marathon

 

Weekend of Sept. 26–27:

15K Nocturna Valencia Banco Mediolanum

Alloa Half Marathon

Banque Scotia Semi et 5 km de Montreal

Maratón de Lima

Rotorua Marathon

Ukrop’s Monument Avenue 10K

Other Major Races Rescheduled for Fall

In addition to these events, another 35 prominent spring road races have been rescheduled for October and November, including the Virgin Money London Marathon (Oct. 4), Debno Marathon (Oct. 11), World Athletics Half-Marathon Championships (Oct. 17), Schneider Electric Marathon de Paris (Oct. 18), and NN Marathon Rotterdam (Oct. 25).

Sadly, many more events have been canceled than postponed, demonstrating the difficulty of rescheduling events. Also, a handful of events have been converted to virtual editions—at least in part—like the Allstate Sugar Bowl Crescent City Classic 10K in New Orleans; Pear Blossom Run 10 Mile in Medford, Ore.; and CCVI Trolley Run 4 Mile in Kansas City, Mo.

Of course, depending on the trajectory of the pandemic, at least some of the rescheduled events may not be held, but hold onto your hats if we’re racing again come September. It’s going to be a wild ride.

Update: The Berlin Marathon has been canceled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The race has not yet provided information on race refunds or entry deferrals for Berlin. The Chicago Marathon is still scheduled to go on, but race officials announced that they are monitoring the health crisis and have outlined a policy for participants who have decided against racing this year. Starting May 5th you will have the opportunity to cancel your Chicago Marathon entry.

We will continue to update this story as information comes in.

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By David Monti, @d9monti. (c) 2020  Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved. Used with permission.