In addition to the traditional marathon weekend, we were all looking forward to the May Peace Half Marathon 2020 in Košice.
Just Saturday, May 16, was the first day of October, when the runners under the leadership of MMM organizers set off on the track to compete in the city dedicated to the marathon run. Given the overall situation caused by the spread of Covid-19, we are forced to suspend all preparations at this point and fully respect the official regulations aimed at protecting the health of all of us.
Despite a very warm reception and excellent responses, the May MMM Half Marathon project will not be able to be implemented at the originally planned date. A very attractive track was prepared, after just a few weeks the threshold of a thousand registration fell, proposals were made for unusual participant medals and T-shirts, organizational teams have rolled up their sleeves to grasp everything in time.
Never mind, the sun rises again in the sky, everything turns to good and we will meet together at the first possible opportunity.
Since now our attention must necessarily concentrate on the October International Peace Marathon, after careful consideration, unlike other spring events, we did not seek a new autumn term for the Košice Peace Half Marathon. Its renewed premiere in this form, as well as the continuation of the tradition of 16 years of the Polmarathon Košice – Seňa, is being moved to May 15, 2021. We greatly appreciate the trust of all our runners and fans and we believe that this process and steps will fully understand and support.
In this context, the frequently asked questions also include how they will be treated with the already paid start fee. Here we want to set up very transparent communication with all our already registered participants due to the exceptional situation. They can choose from two options. They will either tell us that they want to move their start fee to 2021, or that they want to return it to their bank account. We will fully respect both decisions.
Of course, we will also appreciate your support and solidarity, if you decide to stand with the MMM brand even in these difficult times and with a gesture of transfer of the starting fee to 2021 you clearly express it.
If you want to direct your questions to the International Peace Marathon in October, we can clearly state that its preparation and planned dates remain valid and that our teams are already engaged in all the successive organizational steps. The registration portal is fully operational, new and new applications appear daily, which shows that we are preparing for our meeting on October 4, 2020 in Košice.
In this context, we would also like to thank all our partners and supporters for their statements and the will to remain an integral part of the project, underpinned by the values, stories and legacy of the oldest marathon in Europe. We greatly appreciate these positions and at the same time we are convinced that all the institutions, organizations and societies and the people working in them will overcome social, economic and health risks and will soon be able to re-engage with us in everyday life.
Likewise, we wish all runners safe and early handling of this difficult situation, the ability to maintain mental and physical freshness and to exemplify their surroundings by the determination and resilience that has been accompanying modern marathon runners at any moment in our country in Košice since 1924.