The annual Grand Forks Marathon has cancelled the live, in-person portion of its races for 2020 due to concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic. A virtual race option instead will be available to runners.
The three-day Grand Forks event had been scheduled to be held Sept. 24-26.
On the marathon’s website, race director Rachel Hellyer said, “After much research, discussion and thoughtful consideration, the Grand Forks Marathon committee has determined that the health and safety of our participants, volunteers and others is not something we are willing to risk in order to hold an in-person event in 2020.’’
Registered runners have four options. They can run a virtual race, they can defer their registration to 2021, receive a refund or donate entries.
“It’s been an unprecedented and unpredictable year for all events,’’ Hellyer said on the website. “We have done our best to weigh all the options and consider every side in coming to our final plan for 2020. We look forward to the next live event and are going to focus on this as an opportunity to make our next event in 2021 even better.’’
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