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Izu Marathon Cancelled As Organizers Unable To Cope With Rapid Increase in Popularity

http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20161117-00000011-at_s-l22

translated by Brett Larner

On Nov. 16 the organizers of the Izu Marathon, an event put on jointly by four local city governments, revealed that they are cancelling the race's tenth anniversary edition scheduled for February 2017.  The news came to light during an interview with a connected party.  The source said that organizers were unable to cope with the increased safety and security demands created by the event's rapid growth into a race with thousands of participants.

According to the source, while roughly 700 people ran the Izu Marathon's first edition, last year's ninth running saw 4000 entrants.  In the face of such an increase in the event's scale, organizers determined that they were unable to make adequate plans for dealing with problems like bad weather or injuries, resulting in their decision to cancel the race.  Organizers plan to review their operating methodology and the marathon's course and hope to hold the race again in 2018.

In an interview with the Shizuoka Newspaper, organizing committee chair Tokuo Suda commented, "After extensive discussion the decision to postpone the race was made.  We hope to work closely with all relevant organizations in order to be able to stage the event's tenth anniversary edition in the future."

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