Bath Half Marathon will still go ahead despite coronavirus outbreak

Former Olympic rower and gold medallist, James Cracknell, and BBC Radio and TV presenter Dermot O’Leary are due to be among the 15,000-plus runners taking part.

In a statement on its website, race director Andrew Taylor said it was now “too late” for the event to be cancelled or postponed as many of the thousands of runners had already arrived in the city.

He said: “We have carefully considered, listened and consulted, before deciding that the Bath Half Marathon will continue as planned on Sunday.

“We have continued to closely monitor the situation as it has developed, consulting with our partner agencies. As at 20:00 hrs yesterday evening the advice of our local public health team (based on national guidance) remains that the risk of infection from outdoor events such as the Bath Half Marathon remains low, and that there is no epidemiological or medical evidence to suggest that mass participation events should be restricted at this time.

“It is now too late for us to cancel or postpone the event. The venue is built, the infrastructure is in place, the site and our contractors are ready. Runners are already arriving in the city, keen for the race to go ahead.

“Even if we were to cancel at this late stage on the eve of the event we anticipate that thousands of runners would still turn up to run the route, and we feel we would owe a duty of care to those runners, given that our resources are ready and waiting to support them.

“This is based both on the numerous messages of support received from runners determined to run regardless, and our experience in 2018 when we had to cancel the event due to winter storms – which we were able to do in good time before runners started travelling to the event – but hundreds of runners still turned up to run.

“We understand that government is considering future plans to restrict public events, such as the London Marathon, which rely on resources provided by the NHS or police. But we have to base our decision on current advice, and the Bath Half Marathon does not impose any burden on the NHS or police, as our medical and stewarding services are independent of public services.

“We also note that other events both in the UK and overseas have decided to cancel or postpone in response to difference situations and challenges.

“We fully appreciate public concerns, press reports and social media comments about the spread of the Coronavirus. But we have to trust and base our decision on the advice of the appointed experts in local and national government relevant to the circumstances of our event at this moment in time.

“We are grateful for the numerous messages of support received from entrants, charity partners and volunteers anxious for our event to go ahead. Equally we appreciate that many runners and spectators may prefer to exercise their personal choice not to attend.

“In 2018 we had no choice but to cancel, this was an entirely different situation. Our site build had been delayed by the winter storm, key contractors and suppliers were unable to deliver services to our event, key staff were unable to attend, residents had insufficient time to remove their parked cars from the course route, the park and ride services had been cancelled. This year the infrastructure is in place, ready and waiting to go. It is too late now to cancel or postpone our event.

“We look forward to welcoming our runners, charity partners and spectators to our event.

“On the advice of our local public health team we are providing additional handwash facilities at our event for participants, spectators and volunteers. Our medical team is also providing additional resources to isolate and manage any patients presenting with symptoms at the event, in accordance with NHS clinical protocols.

“We ask runners and spectators to play their part in slowing the spread of the virus by following NHS advice regarding good hygiene practices, washing their hands, covering their mouth and nose when they cough, or sneeze; and disposing of used tissues in the bin immediately.”

Organisers of the London Marathon have already postponed this year’s event from Sunday, April 26 to October 4. It is the first time the race has been postponed since its launch in 1981.

The Manchester Marathon, scheduled for Sunday, April 5 has also been postponed, and the Brighton Marathon, due to take place on Sunday, April 19, has been re-scheduled for September 20.

If you are worried that you have symptoms of the virus or that you might have been exposed to the virus when travelling, please visit the NHS 111 online service.