Great Scottish Run 2020 cancelled due to coronavirus pandemic

This year’s Great Scottish Run has become the latest event to be cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The event, which sees thousands of runners of all ages take to the streets of Glasgow, was due to take place on Sunday October 4.

Organisers said that they “haven’t taken this decision lightly” but it was difficult to be able to go ahead in a way that would fit with social distancing rules and not impact local services at a crucial time.

Entrants will be able to switch to next year’s run, provisionally scheduled for Sunday October 3 2021, or receive a refund for their fee.

The associated children’s event, the Junior & Mini Great Scottish Run, due to take place on Saturday 3 October is also cancelled. All runners in this event will receive a full refund of their entry fee.

Paul Foster, Chief Executive at the Great Run Company, said: “We understand this will be disappointing news to all those who were planning to take part, but the safety of participants, spectators and of all those associated with the staging of the events is always our number one priority.

“Over the past few months we have worked hard to try and find a way to stage the Great Scottish Run while observing social distancing rules, and most importantly, not adding to the burden of public services.

“However, as things stand, and even as the situation improves, it’s not going to be possible to meet these goals with any certainty, and so we have concluded that the best course of action is to cancel this year’s event. We are delighted to be able to offer our runners the opportunity to roll their place over and we look forward to welcoming them back in 2021.

“We want to thank all of our participants and partners for their continued support and understanding.”

Many of people taking on the challenge would have been doing it for charity at a time donations are more important than ever before.

Foster added: “Event day is only a small part of the challenge our runners take on, they put in a huge amount of preparation and training in the weeks and months before. They should be able to celebrate that achievement.

“We encourage those who were signed up to run the event to recognise all the hard work they have already put in and consider still passing on the money raised to the charity if possible.”