Long Island Marathon rescheduled for October

Nassau County officials postponed Long Island Marathon weekend from May 1-3 to Oct. 2-4 because of concerns over the coronavirus pandemic, race director Corey Roberts said Thursday.

Roberts, the race director at Race Awesome, the company that organizes the event, said the decision was made late last week.

The full 26.2-mile marathon will not take place in the fall, with runners instead being offered entry into the 13.1-mile half marathon on Oct. 4, the 10K on Oct. 3, or the 5K on Oct. 2.  All races will begin and end at Eisenhower Park, Roberts said.

“The event takes tremendous support from Nassau County itself, between the health department, operation of emergency management, [department of public works], and the parks department,” Roberts said. “There’s probably close to 400 people that work the event come race week, between the police and everybody else. We just saw the tremendous strain that everybody was under and then we looked to the calendar to see what dates would work and what dates would be available…”

Approximately 2,800 runners are signed up for the weekend, as of Thursday. Approximately 5,000 runners participate in the weekend, Roberts said.

Roberts said that rescheduling the full marathon would require a lot of logistical planning that is just not practical right now.

“It requires you to get permits and approval from New York State Parks, New York State (Department of Transportation), Nassau County, and Town of Hempstead,” he said. “…Using that full course and using that (Wantagh) parkway really has a huge impact on all the people that need to be involved. With that said, and everybody being so busy right now, we just felt that it’s not something we can bother anybody with at this point in time…”

The half-marathon course will not go down Hempstead Turnpike or the Wantagh Parkway, but instead will be run on local roads around Eisenhower Park,” Roberts said.

Those registered for the 35.5-mile challenge, a weekend of running the 5K, 10K, and the full marathon, will be transferred to the 22.4-mile challenge, the 5K, 10K, and half marathon, with no additional fees and will receive a $15 refund to reflect the price difference, the event’s website said.

Runners who have already signed up for the May marathon will have their registration rolled over to the new date and do not need to do anything to reregister, the event’s website said.

There will be no refunds, which is standard practice in the marathon industry  because the event was postponed, not cancelled. Those who cannot make the October race date will have the opportunity to defer/roll over their entry to the 2021 event at no extra cost, Roberts said.

Runners are also allowed to complete a "virtual race," which is running the set distance on their own and self-reporting results while still receiving the standard marathon giveaways by mail. Further instructions on virtual racing will be provided by organizers in the coming weeks, the website said.

The Suffolk County Marathon, which is not affiliated with the Long Island Marathon, is scheduled for Oct. 25, its standard date, according to that event’s website.