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Tokyo Marathon altered amid coronavirus for second straight year

Tokyo Marathon

TOKYO, JAPAN - MARCH 01: A general view of the finish line prior to the Tokyo Marathon on March 01, 2020 in Tokyo, Japan. The organizer had restricted the entry to elite runners only as the marathon acts as the final domestic qualifying for Tokyo Olympic Games men’s marathon due to the COVID-19 new coronavirus outbreak. (Photo by Takashi Aoyama/Getty Images)

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The 2021 Tokyo Marathon has been postponed from March 7 to Oct. 17 “to deliver elite and mass races together in the original field size,” organizers announced Friday.

It’s the second straight year that the Tokyo Marathon -- one of six annual World Marathon Majors -- has been altered amid the coronavirus.

This year’s Tokyo Marathon was held as scheduled on March 1, but limited to elite racers without the usual mass participation event with nearly 40,000 people.

Tokyo is one of three major spring marathons (although it is technically held in the winter). Another spring marathon, London, previously announced it would shift from its usual April date to Oct. 3 in 2021.

That leaves Boston as the lone major marathon that could still be held between now and the Tokyo Olympics.

MORE: 2020 London Marathon Results

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