(Reuters) – This year’s Boston Marathon will be limited to 20,000 applicants in a bid to allow for greater social distance throughout the course of the course given the COVID-19 pandemic, race organizers said yesterday.
The number of entrants allowed for this year’s race, scheduled to take place on October 11, is 33% lower than the typical number of runners in one of the most prestigious marathons in the world.
The Boston Athletic Association (BAA), which organizes the marathon, said it has worked closely with local, city and state partners to establish an appropriate field size for the race that stretches from the suburb of Hopkinton to Boston town center .
“In addition to a smaller area than in previous years, we will have significant additional protocols in place to ensure the health of participants and the public,” BAA President Tom Grilk said in a news release.
The Boston Marathon, typically held in April and generally attracting over 30,000 runners from around the world, has been held annually since 1897 until it was canceled for the first time in its history last year because of COVID-19.
The global pandemic forced organizers to push back the date for this year’s race.
As a result, all six marathons scheduled this year will now be condensed into a six-week window, starting with the Berlin Marathon on September 26 and ending with the New York City race on November 7. Marathon had Boston 2019 30,234 applicants, according to the BAA website.