In this April 15, 2019, file photo, the elite men break from the start of the 123rd Boston Marathon in Hopkinton, Mass. The 2020 Boston Marathon, which was rescheduled to run on Sept. 14th, was canceled Thursday May 28, 2020 for the first time in its 124-year history due to the COVID-19 virus outbreak. Credit: Stew Milne | AP
Walsh implied in later tweets that the Boston Athletic Association, which hosts the marathon, would attempt to hold a remote version of the event.
“We’ll be joining and supporting the BAA in an alternative approach to the Marathon that allows runners to participate remotely, and allows all of us to celebrate the meaning this race has for our spirit, for our charities, and for our local economy,” Walsh wrote.
The @BAA has announced that the 124th Boston Marathon will be held as a virtual event, following Boston Mayor Martin Walsh’s cancellation of the marathon as a mass participation road running event due to the COVID-19 pandemic. pic.twitter.com/tlIdvsU9sq
Around 30,000 people run the race each year on Patriots’ Day, the third Monday in April, which commemorates the first battles of the Revolutionary War.
All large city events in Boston had previously been canceled through Labor Day.