TOKYO 2020 MARATHON NON-ELITE PARTICIPATION CANCELLED: REQUEST BIBS

Mock-up of an imagined Earned Runs bib sticker for those who will miss it.

THE ORGANIZERS OF THE MARCH 1, 2020 ABBOTT WORLD MARATHON MAJORS EVENT CALLED OFF THE RACE FOR THE MASSES on Monday February 17, explaining to roughly 38,000 registrants that only the field of elite marathoners and wheelchair elites would be competing that day. Because a case of infection with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) was confirmed in Tokyo, the race would need to be scaled down as a preventative safety measure an announcement declared.  
 
The general, semi-elite, and charity marathon runners, and those planning to run the half marathon and 10K races were given the option of deferring their entry for the 2021 Marathon and were informed they would be required to again pay a registration fee.
 
This is a devastating for all who trained to compete but were prevented from doing so by circumstances. By far the most common scenario of arises on the side of the individual runner, who cannot compete because of injury or other circumstance, and who must suffer the loss of the registration fee and other expenses paid in advance.  Major race changes like cancellation are not unprecedented though. A runnersworld.com article that also announced the Tokyo news identified previous international competitions that were either called-off or truncated because of environmental or dangerous conditions.
 
The motivation behind the 2014 founding of Earned Runs company was the unpredictability of my ‘compete-ability’ (there’s no such term) in organized races. I was unable to make two half marathon races in one year due to injury. In other years, family events prevented my participation after paying registration fees.  
 
Ultimately, I decided to design professional-grade race bibs for personal use in custom events competed on my own terms.  I vowed that never again would I suffer the disappointment and expense of not being able to participate in a race for which I had trained.  If my personal event, I could determine, or change as needed, the details of each including theme date, time, distance, and challenge format. Because other runners might have experienced similar frustrations, an annual bib set has been mailed to anyone who makes a request. 
 
Just this past fall Earned Runs was a sponsor of a pre-Thanksgiving Day cross country race, but three days before the start a family event prevented our presence there.  It was sad not to be cheering on the Turkey Trot runners that day.
 
I hope that disappointed Tokyo runners who are not able to compete in this important goal race find a way to celebrate their readiness and perseverance, as individuals or in groups, in an alternate endurance contest.  Earned Runs has bibs for you.
 
RUN & MOVE HAPPY
https://www.marathon.tokyo/en/news/detail/news_001576.html
 
https://www.runnersworld.com/news/a30964793/tokyo-marathon-canceled-coronavirus/