The Nagoya women's marathon, due to take place on March 8, has canceled all general public entries and will go ahead with the race for elite runners only because of the outbreak of the coronavirus, organizers said in a statement on Friday.
The statement read, "Much to our regret, we reached a conclusion that it is extremely difficult to stage a safe and secure event that all runners can participate without worries.
"Therefore, the Nagoya Women's Marathon 2020 will be held only for those registered as elite athletes. We are terribly sorry for our non-elite runners who have been practicing hard for the race and for everyone else who was looking forward to seeing and cheering runners on race day."
The organizers said that the entry fee will not be refunded to registered runners and they will not guarantee their place in next year's event.
The Nagoya City Marathon, which was scheduled on the same day specially for the amateur entrees, was canceled.
The two races, which were expected to have approximately 40,000 runners participating, will hold a full marathon event online using a smartphone app.
The Nagoya races became the second marathon to cancel general public entries after the Tokyo Marathon, one of the world's biggest marathons, announced on Feb. 17 that it too would only be open to elite runners.
A test event for the Tokyo Paralympic Games, the boccia tournament, was postponed on Thursday by The Japan Para Sports Association (JPSA) over worries of a potential coronavirus outbreak.
