THE official postponed date of one of Southampton's biggest annual running events has been announced.
ABP Southampton Marathon will now be taking place on Sunday August 9 following the postponement of its original April date.
In a bid to help prevent the spread of coronavirus, they have delayed the date following the government's announcement that they will no longer support mass events for the time being.
Organisers said they have been closely following governmental advice and have had to postpone the event - which brings in thousands of runners every year - including the ABP Southampton Marathon, Half and 10km runs.
A spokesperson for ReesLeisure, who organise the marathon, said: "The health and safety of our participants, volunteers and office team are our top priority; and we are doing our bit by all staying at home to help this pandemic end sooner.
"Please note that for those of you signed up to one of our events already, we are working closely with the council to arrange final details for each of our events.
"We will be announcing final details for the ABP Southampton Marathon event and Cycle Southampton Sporterium event on 22nd May – please keep an eye out on your emails for these updates."
They also plan to organise the run with an Open Gantry Policy, meaning runners will be able to start the event at any time between 6am and 10am on the event day.
However, the event date is subject to change according to government guidelines, and if August is still not deemed safe, it will be postponed until April 25 next year - according to organisers.
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