Bath Half to be held later in year amid safety fears
The Bath Half Marathon 2021 has been postponed until September, its organisers have confirmed.
Bosses for the event said due to the new rise in coronavirus cases and the latest restrictions, they were making the “difficult decision” to push back the run from March 14 until September 5.
It comes after chiefs at Bath and North East Somerset Council said they did not feel a “large scale event in the spring” would be safe, and resources are currently stretched responding to Covid outbreaks.
A Bath Half spokesperson said: “We understand how disappointing this postponement will be for our participants, charity partners and volunteer groups. However, we have decided to make this announcement early to allow time to make plans for 2021.
“We are disappointed that the positive role that physical fitness and regular exercise can play in helping to beat Covid has not been either widely discussed or promoted by government or in the media, and in that respect we believe that outdoor participation events such as the Bath Half Marathon are not the problem, but part of the solution.
“In discussing our event plans with Bath & North East Somerset Council we have been advised that in the current situation, regardless of the event being permitted by government and being Covid-secure, the public health team do not feel it is appropriate to consider a large public event in the spring.”
Since the government lifted restrictions on events in July, the team has been developing a Covidsecure strategy for the delivery of next year’s race.
These flexible plans anticipate a number of different scenarios, and satisfy all published Covid guidelines for events, and have been refined following learnings from
Covid-secure trial events at Kew Gardens and Blenheim Palace, and recent research on the outdoor transmission of Covid commissioned by the parkrun organisation.
The spokesman added: “In the coming months, the team will continue working closely with Bath & North East Somerset Council to develop plans for our Covid-secure event, looking forward to welcoming supporters back to Bath on Sunday, September 5 2021.
“In the meantime, the team encourages everyone to follow government advice on social distancing and handwashing, and to get ‘match fit’ by exercising regularly.”
Bosses for this year’s event were criticised for going ahead with the run just days before the country went into lockdown.
Many who were initially taking part had called on organisers to cancel the race in light of the pandemic, leading to some setting up a ‘virtual half marathon’ as a boycott.
In response to concerns, race organiser Andrew Taylor said the event had gone ahead on the then medical advice and that the threat of contacting the virus was very low.