Hello everyone and welcome to the Extra Kick podcast back to you by Runners Connect.

I'm Coach Laura and today we're going to be

talking about what to do when your goal race is cancelled. It was Sunday night

when I started to read rumors that the mass participation race for the

Tokyo Marathon was going to be cancelled.

By the time I woke up Monday morning, the announcement had been made.

Back to when the New York City Marathon was cancelled in 2012, less than 48 hours before the gun went off.

At least with Tokyo, the athletes have a little bit more time to modify their plans. Both New York City and Tokyo were

cancelled for reasons out of athletes control. And while disappointing, these

cancellations are a reminder that our running goals are relatively small potatoes on a global scale.

Hurricane relief or prevention of spreading a disease such as the coronavirus on a large scale take precedent over our PBs six-star races or other goals.

But it's still extremely upsetting for an athlete when their race is suddenly cancelled, and rightly so.

Many months and sometimes years of dreaming, preparation, and training go into these events for an athlete

and never mind the cost or travel plans.

And it's okay to feel a wide range of emotion from anger to sadness and hopelessness. No one wins when a race is cancelled. The race organizers don't have an easy decision to make, but a public health and safety will come first.

And often, they're simply unable to return their entry fees.

That's why you sign a waiver on your fee.

The race takes at least a year to organize and that money can't be unspent.

But what can you, the athlete, do when your race is cancelled?

You may feel completely lost. After all, you trained to peak for a

specific week and you may have even already started your taper. The first option is to

look for a replacement race.

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