LA Marathon organizers and County health officials announced March 5 that the annual marathon will go on as planned with precautions to help prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Many city residents and athletes are concerned that the country’s largest marathon could be a hotbed for the disease since runners fly in from all around the world to participate in the event.
“I had been training for the marathon everyday for months, but when the news of coronavirus spread, my parents said I could no longer participate," said Natallia Chaim, a student at Loyola Marymount University “It’s really sad because of all the time I spent working towards this goal, but I don’t think it’s worth the risk of being exposed to so many germs for hours on end.”
USC professor Kimberly Rubal advised friends not to come and support her this year.
“I will be picking up my bib and wearing it on Sunday, running 26.2 miles, but not with the other athletes. Instead, I’ll be running a route close to home,” Rubal said.
Rubal said she wants to do the ethical and right thing not only for her, but for her community. She said the most important thing for her is to stay healthy for her students, which means not participating in the marathon.
There are currently 90,000 cases around the world and more than 100 in the United States. Washington state’s death toll rose to 11, according to statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
An estimated 27,000 athletes registered for the marathon, with individuals from more than 78 countries scheduled to attend, according to the Los Angeles Marathon website. This number does not include the thousands of event volunteers and people who watch from the outside.
“All Los Angeles Marathon weekend activities are scheduled as planned,” a recent statement from the LA Marathon said. “Safety is always our first priority and our operations team has been in consistent dialogue with local authorities and monitoring developments related to all safety aspects of the Marathon, including coronavirus.”
LA Marathon officials announced that they deferred entries for people living in China, Taiwan, Italy, Iran, Hong Kong and South Korea. The U.S. Department of State issued a “do not travel to” advisory in these countries due to the high number of coronavirus cases.
The marathon will be issuing refunds to individuals in these countries who no longer wish to participate in this year’s race.
"We are actively monitoring the situation and communicating directly with participants via social channels, email and our website to update them as we learn more,” said Murphy Reinschreiber, chief operating officer for the LA Marathon, in an official statement. “Runner safety is paramount and will continue to be our top priority.”
The protocols officials will be implementing on race day include multiple hand sanitizer stations at the start line, race expo and along the route and finish festival. Officials will also encourage participants to abide by public safety measures, including washing their hands and staying home if they feel sick.
Dan Cruz, the PR Director for the LA Marathon, announced that they will work with fire and police departments, as well as Unified LA, which coordinates the Los Angeles Emergency Management Department, at the marathon to ensure participants safety.
“The marathon coordinators have been on top of giving us any updates, and they are complying with all state and local officials. ” says Michael Conoscenti, a USC alumnus participating in the event. “I trust the officials and authorities on their assessment of risk, and know that declaring a state of emergency is usually used to free up state cash to address the issue.”
While some USC marathon athletes are relieved the event isn’t canceled because of how long they’ve trained, others are more nervous due to increasing number of cases of the coronavirus in the area.
“I won’t lie; I am a little scared and it is worrisome for me because both my husband and my parents are in the high risk group for coronavirus,” says Min Hubbard, a worker for Alfred E. Mann Institute of Biomedical Engineering at USC. “I won’t be doing any high-fives with strangers cheering at the side of the road.”
The marathon is scheduled for March 8. Athletes will run across Los Angeles, starting at Dodger Stadium and ending close to the Santa Monica Pier.