Boston and London Marathons Postponed Until Fall

The Boston Marathon, which was scheduled for April 20, has been postponed until Sept. 14. The London Marathon has been rescheduled for Oct. 4, instead of April 26.

After resisting calls to cancel the race for weeks, the Boston Athletic Association announced Friday that the Boston Marathon would be postponed until September because of mounting concerns about the coronavirus pandemic. Shortly after that announcement, another major race, the London Marathon, was postponed. It had been scheduled for April 26, six days after the Boston Marathon. For some British runners the London race would have served as a qualifier for the Summer Olympics in Tokyo in late July, another event that could be canceled or postponed because of the pandemic, though organizers have insisted the Olympics will take place as planned.

The Boston Marathon will be held Sept. 14. The London Marathon will take place on Oct. 4.

The announcements injected new turmoil into the spring long-distance running season, both for elite runners, who often plan on participating in one marathon in the fall and one in the spring, and weekend warriors. “On matters of public health and safety we take our guidance from the officials entrusted with protecting the public in this area,” said Tom Grilk, chief executive of the B. A. A.

“We understand our role, along with our partners, in ensuring a safe environment for all participants, volunteers, spectators, and supporters that meets the standards set by those officials. ” Boston’s 26. 2-mile race first took place in 1897 and has been held annually through wars, periods of domestic tension, and in intense weather.

“Mayor Martin J.”

Walsh of Boston also noted the race brings more than $200 million to the city. “So you think about the economic impact on the city but the bottom line is my job as mayor is to make sure that people are safe,” Mayor Walsh said earlier this week. The race, which follows a course from Hopkinton, in Boston’s western suburbs, to downtown Boston, has a field of 30,000 runners, and hundreds of thousands more line the streets to watch. Other than the Olympic trials, it is the only major marathon in the country that most runners have to qualify for by running fast enough to meet a standard for their age group.