Portsmouth's Great South Run cancelled

Organisers of the annual event in Portsmouth have been forced to postpone the run, which was due to take place on Sunday October 18, due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

Runners will have the option to roll over their entry to the next Great South Run, which is scheduled to take place on October, 17, 2021, or receive a refund of their entry fee.

Chief executive at the Great Run Company Paul Foster 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 South Run while observing social distancing rules, and most importantly, not impacting on our local NHS.

‘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. 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.’

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The Junior & Mini Great South Run have also been postponed until next year.

Organisers have decided to put on a virtual running challenge, Great South Run Solo, so runners can put their training to good use and carry on raising much-needed funds for charities.

Paul 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.

‘Great South Run Solo kicks off on Tuesday, September 1. We are contacting all entrants with more detail on this in the coming days.’

For more information visit greatrun.org/great-south-run

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