The 2019 ING Night Marathon Luxembourg;
The organisers of the ING Night Marathon Luxembourg, step by step SA, together with the Ville de Luxembourg, have announced that the ING Night Marathon Luxembourg 2021 has had to be cancelled as a direct result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, as had the 2020 edition.
The largest running event in the region has fallen victim to the pandemic again this year. "We have once again put a lot of time, money and enthusiasm into our project, because we have long assumed that we would finally make it happen again this year. I am particularly sorry for the many thousands of runners who have trained for months to be able to compete with us on 15 May," said Erich François, who has been organising the marathon in the Grand Duchy since 2006 via step by step. In 2019, a total of 16,000 participants ran through the capital, more than 100,000 spectators lined the streets and turned the whole of Luxembourg into one big party zone. "A race only for top athletes, as it has been proposed to us by the government, is definitely out of the question for us" he explained.
"The ING Night Marathon Luxembourg lives for the unique atmosphere, the community, the many music bands and hotspots along the route," said François. "It is a race for everyone, not just for the elite".
Postponing the big event to autumn was also not an option: "It would be nonsensical to unnecessarily compete with colleagues who are probably still suffering the effects of the pandemic in the autumn." Runners who have already registered in recent months will be offered a refund in the coming days.
Is this now the end of the Luxembourg Marathon success story? "No!" said François firmly. "We will continue. We won't let this virus get us down."
ING Luxembourg has extended its contract as title sponsor for another 5 years, good news in the time of crisis. The date for the next ING Night Marathon Luxembourg is confirmed for 28 May 2022.
