Dublin Marathon decision on hold until mid-July

THE FINAL CALL on whether the 2021 KBC Dublin Marathon will go ahead has been pushed out to mid-July.

A decision on the race, scheduled for the October Bank Holiday weekend on Sunday 24, was due today, but organisers have since announced that it will now come “no later than Thursday 15 July” instead.

“The organisers of the KBC Dublin Marathon have announced they are pushing the date of when runners will receive official confirmation of whether the real race on Sunday 24 of October can go ahead, from Friday 25 of June (today) to no later than Thursday 15 of July,” a statement reads.

“We had planned to be in a position to make the official announcement today on whether the event could go ahead,” Jim Aughney, Race Director, said. “However, we are still in the process of engaging the relevant stakeholders.

Our priority is to bring the Marathon back to the streets of Dublin safely for all involved and we would ask for runners’ patience and support at this time while we endeavour to make this a possibility.”

In May, organisers said they were “cautiously optimistic” it would go ahead in October, though “vaccination is key” in efforts to host a full, in-person showpiece event.

The 2020 edition — which was due to take place on the same weekend last year — was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic, though all entries for the 26.2-miler remain valid for the 2021.