Havens Hospices opt to cancel this year's Chelmsford Marathon

A number of major races have been postponed until October, including the London Marathon, due to the coronavirus pandemic.

And Judy Grocott, Havens Voluntary Income Manager, has now confirmed the Chelmsford Marathon will not take place this year.

She said:“We desperately wanted to go ahead with our seventh year of the Chelmsford Marathon as a lot of hard work and preparation had already gone into the race.

"The situation around Coronavirus is changing rapidly and we would rather avoid prolonged uncertainty to give our participants as much time as possible to reschedule their training plans.

“We have not taken this decision lightly as the Chelmsford Marathon raises thousands of pounds every year for our charity as well as the many other fundraising events which we have already postponed.

"In the meantime, we hope that our runners will look to other ways to still support our specialist hospice care and we hope to see you at next year’s Chelmsford Marathon!”

For those who have already registered for the Chelmsford Marathon, the place will be automatically transferred to next year’s event.

Or, Havens Hospices is allowing participants to transfer to another event organised by the charity or transfer the entry to a friend.

Havens Hospices are also calling on the support of those runners who are taking part in other major marathon events, such as the London, Paris, Manchester or Amsterdam Marathons.

They would like to appeal to participants to consider joining ‘Team Havens’ and raise money for the charity.

The charity offers a full support package for our ‘Team Havens’ runners, providing monthly group training runs, sports therapy sessions, a ‘Team Havens’ running vest and a group celebration event to share your success.

Contact Judy Grocott at jgrocott@havenshospices.org.uk for more information.