When the world shut down at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, it sent shockwaves through the running community – is it did through the world.
Although running is an activity that can be pursued alone, much of the enthusiasm and popularity around the sport is driven by large in person events. In particular, people seek to participate in large scale marathons like the New York City Marathon or the Boston Marathon.
The COVID lockdown resulted in virtually all of these races being canceled for the remainder of 2020, and many races returned in 2021 with precautions that included reduced field sizes.
Slowly, over the next two years, most races rebounded to their pre-COVID participation rates. In some cases – including New York City, Chicago, and Philly – they’ve grown to new heights.
So you might think that everything is back to normal. And in most cases, it is. But there are a number of races that never returned for one reason or another.
I put together a list of races that never returned and I researched the circumstances surrounding each one. They tell a variety of different stories.
You can read the full article here on Medium, and you can request a special link to bypass the paywall if you’re not a Medium subscriber.
But below, I’ll briefly share the list with some of the basic details.
What Marathons Never Returned After COVID?
Here’s a rundown of some well established races that shutdown for COVID and never returned.
- St. Luke’s Via Marathon in Pennsylvania. The race, dating back to 2008, routinely had more than 1,000 finishers. The main charity partner and organizer, Via, pulled out post-COVID, and a new race was ultimately organized in the area to fill the void – St. Luke’s D&L Racefest.
- The Charleston Marathon in South Carolina. Over the course of ten years, the race consistently had just under 1,000 finishers. They planned to return in 2022, but the race was canceled at the last minute. Starting in 2023, the race returned as a half marathon but the full marathon was gone good.
- The REVEL Mt. Hood Marathon in Oregon. This relatively new race started in 2018. They attempted to return in 2021, but they could not reach an agreement with local authorities to approve the race. The race is now officially retired.
- The New Orleans Mardi Gras Marathon in Louisiana. This is an old race dating back to 1965, and it was later bought out by The Competitor Group in 2010 to become part of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Series. In 2022, the race returned as a half marathon. The change wasn’t popular, and the organizers canceled the race permanently the next year.
- The Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon in Savannah, Georgia. It started out in 2011 with a huge crowd before slowly shrinking to a more modest size. The race was set to return in 2021, but it was canceled last minute due to severe weather. After that, the city declined to renew their contract for future years.
- The Rock ‘n’ Roll Seattle Marathon in Washington. This race dated back to 2009, and like Savannah it was originally very popular. In 2022, the organizers tried to rebrand the race as the St. Jude Rock ‘n’ Roll Running Series Washington – and only offer a half marathon. It was unsuccessful, and the race has been officially discontinued. The original Seattle Marathon did return in 2021, and it’s still going strong.
- The Rock ‘n’ Roll USA Marathon in Washington, D. C. This started as the National Marathon in 2006 and was later folded into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Series. Post-COVID, it rebranded as the Rock ‘n’ Roll Running Series Washington, D.C. – and it capped out at a half marathon. This was more successful than Seattle, and the half marathon is still going strong … but the marathon is no more.
- The New Jersey Marathon in Long Branch, NJ. This version of the race started in 1997, and it built on the history of an older race in the Jersey Shore area. At its peak, it had over 2,000 finishers. The race was scheduled to return in October 2021, but a dispute over permits led to it being canceled. Organizers could not find a new town to host the race, and it never returned. The Jersey City Marathon was started in 2023, and it filled the void left by the older race.
There are likely some other smaller races that suffered the same fate. But these are some of the larger, more well known races that I came across in my research.
Many of these races were run by for profit companies, like the Competitor Group or the Capstone Event Group. So I don’t feel bad for them.
But it is sad to see some of the more historic local races, like the New Orleans Marathon and the New Jersey Marathon, meet with this fate. They each had a rich history and meaning to their local running communities.
For a more detailed history of what happened, read the full article on Medium. It includes additional sources and context. This is just a quick summary.
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