How will the death of the Queen affect upcoming running races?
Following the death of Her Majesty the Queen on Thursday, some sporting events have been postponed, including all of this weekend’s English football matches – at both professional and grassroots level.
Despite the Great North Run 5K, which was due to take place this evening (Friday, September 9), being cancelled, event organisers announced this afternoon that the main half marathon event will still take place as planned on Sunday.
As part of the Great North Run’s announcement, it stated that 'elements of the runner and spectator experience will be more subdued out of respect to the Royal Family'.
Today (Friday 9 September), a national mourning period begins and will continue until the end of the day of the State Funeral. Dates and further details of these events will be announced by the Royal Household in due course.
The government has published National Mourning Guidance stating that ‘there is no obligation to cancel or postpone events and sporting fixtures during the National Mourning period. This is at the discretion of individual organisations.’
The guidance does state, though, that ‘as a mark of respect, organisations might wish to consider cancelling or postponing events or closing venues on the day of the State Funeral.’
However, ‘they are under no obligation to do so and this is entirely at the discretion of individual organisations’.
What other running events have been postponed?
London’s Richmond Run-Fest, set to take place this weekend, has been postponed due, in part, to the significance of the course location. Organisers said: ‘The GoFundMe Richmond RUN-FEST event is hugely unique and we are proud to be in the Royal Borough of Richmond, running through two locations owned in part by Historic Royal Palaces and a floral tribute to the Queen in Old Deer Park. It is for these reasons that the events now can not take place and this event will have to be re-scheduled.’
Cancer Research UK has also postponed tonight’s Shine Walk Liverpool, while its Shine Night Walk Glasgow, set to to take place tomorrow (Saturday 10 September), is set to go ahead as planned.
Elsewhere, parkrun has issued a statement confirming that it will not be asking any 5km or junior parkrun events to cancel this weekend, though in some cases landowners or volunteer teams may request for individual events to be cancelled.
IRONMAN Wales has not yet confirmed whether or not the Ironman-distance triathlon will go ahead this weekend.
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