THE Cardiff University Cardiff Half Marathon (CHM) has been postponed again, this time until autumn next year.

The event was originally planned for this year, before the coronavirus pandemic resulted in the decision to postpone the race until March 2021.

Run 4 Wales had been closely monitoring the ongoing coronavirus situation and the guidance issued by the Welsh and UK Governments.

They have now decided to postpone the 18th running of the event until Sunday October 3 2021.

In a statement they said: "We had watched with optimism over recent months as lockdown restrictions had eased and successful pilot events across the UK have demonstrated that it is possible to safely deliver mass participation events.

"It is now clear however, against a backdrop of rising cases, freshly imposed lockdown restrictions and a turbulent winter period ahead that it will not be possible to deliver an event of this size and scale by March of next year.

"With regret therefore, we now need to inform you that the 18th edition of the CHM, originally scheduled for 2020 will need to be postponed further, until Sunday, October 3, 2021."

READ MORE:

The knock-on impact of this decision means that the 19th edition of the CHM will also be held one year later, on October 2, 2022. There will not be two editions of the race in 2021 as was originally planned.

"The health and safety of our runners, volunteers, event team and the wider population is of the utmost importance to us," said Run 4 Wales.

"We have therefore been working closely with the Welsh Government and other mass participation event organisers across Wales and the UK to chart a safe return to events."

There are a number of options available to runners who are registered for the 18th edition of the CHM.

Every runner with a place will be able to use it in the rescheduled event, or decide between a number of additional options, depending on their entry type. Those registered have been e-mailed with more information.

Run 4 Wales Chief Executive, Matt Newman, said: “The CHM has always been the flagship event in the R4W event calendar and its place in the world of half-marathons is now secure.

"This year, the first Sunday in October will be a bit quieter, but I’m sure that the love for the CHM will mean that the event will bounce back in 2021 and will continue to provide thousands of runners with a world class experience for years to come.”