The Races COVID Killed: Which Marathons Never Returned?
Running as a sport is on the rebound, but some races are gone for good
When the world shut down in March 2020, it sent a shockwave through the economy. The running world was not exempt from this.
Races across the country were canceled through much of 2020, and the next two years were tenuous at best. Some spring races moved to the fall in 2021, others implemented restrictions on the field size, and some didn’t return until 2022.
I remember that turbulent time in 2021 when racing was starting to come back. Everything seemed to be slowly reopening, but on a moments notice a race could be postponed or canceled. The first race I was supposed to run — in October 2021 — was ultimately canceled because of issues with permits.
Since then, marathons have largely rebounded from COVID. Participation in 2023 is still slightly lower than it was in 2019, but most big races have fully or almost fully recovered.
On the other hand, some races have simply not come back.
I was curious to see which races suffered this fate and what their stories might be…
