The organizers of the 11th October Manchester Marathon have announced that after careful consideration, they have cancelled the event.

“The ongoing uncertainty around restrictions relating to COVID-19 has made confirming the necessary arrangements impossible at this time. We apologise to the many of you who were looking forward to running in this much loved event, but it was important to us a decision was taken in good time before runners stepped up their training to longer distances,” the statement said.

The statement continued to say: “We look forward to welcoming runners back to the Manchester Marathon when the event takes place on Sunday 11th April 2021. We are working closely with our wonderful stakeholders to ensure the best event yet. We are also working alongside other event organisers, Public Health England, and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport to put any necessary measures in place for the return of one of Europe’s favourite marathons.”

Those who were due to run in either the Manchester Marathon, or Tommy’s Manchester Half, have been emailed directly with further information.

However the organisers said they will be offering runners the opportunity to earn a Manchester Marathon 2020 finishers’ medal and t-shirt through a virtual challenge later this year.

“At this time we would like to take the opportunity to thank our wonderful runners for their patience whilst solutions were sought, and also our team for their hard work to try and get the event on. We’ll be sharing more updates about the 2021 Manchester Marathon in the coming months, but in the meantime stay safe, and we hope to see you as soon as possible.”