2020 Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon Goes Virtual

Thank you for your interest in the 20th Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon – the Run to Remember! Our special thanks for hanging in there and being patient with us as we have worked through the unprecedented times of COVID-19 as we made our decision.

We are announcing that we are transitioning from a traditional Marathon weekend as we have done the past 19 years to a Virtual OKC Memorial Marathon. We have studied every way to have the race and every reason we shouldn’t and the facts are clear.

We are very disappointed, but with the rising numbers of COVID cases, it simply makes it impossible and would be irresponsible for us to bring 25,000+ runners together on the streets of Oklahoma City. There is no way to execute a traditional Marathon in 2020.

We pledge to you to make the Memorial Marathon one of the most amazing virtual runs you have ever experienced! But for the health of our community, we must run virtually! We will work with the best platforms to make it a 20th year to remember.

For instance, you will still experience the 168 seconds of silence as we all pause to remember those who were killed, those who survived and those changed forever. The reason you run this race will still be made available to you via technology and our media partners.

What this means for you the runner–

All runners currently registered for the 2020 Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon will be automatically transferred to the Virtual OKC Memorial Marathon and can run the race any time between October 4-18, 2020.

Anyone not currently signed up for one of the five races can still do so at okcMarathon.com, there will be no more price increases and registration will close on Thursday, October 1st.

If you are already registered and choose not to run virtually, you may–

Donate your registration to the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum, a private 501(c) 3 and the sole beneficiary of the Memorial Marathon proceeds.

Defer to the 2021 OKC Memorial Marathon

Defer to the 2022 OKC Memorial Marathon

You will need to make your decision on this by next Wednesday, August 12th and you will be responsible for going to okcMarathon.com to make that change.

If you choose to run the Virtual OKC Memorial Marathon, you will receive your event shirt, medal and other swag (depending on your race) ahead of October 4th

You will also receive a coupon code for a 20% discount to the 2021 race after your time has been posted as our way of saying thank you for Running to Remember in this special anniversary year.

If you are running the Kids Memorial Marathon, our team will work with you and your team to make sure it is a Run to Remember and provide the educational material for you to use at home or at school.

We will still honor the Changing the Course of OKC Challenge and you will receive that commemorative coin if you ran the Marathon or Half Marathon in 2019 and virtually in 2020. You have been monumental in our race and we are grateful.

The Oklahoma Standard Challenge is still on if you virtually run the 2020 Marathon or Half Marathon in both Oklahoma City and Tulsa’s Route 66 Marathon in November. You will receive that commemorative medal in your Route 66 race packet.

If you are running the Memorial Marathon Relay, the Governor’s Challenge is still in place. Governor Stitt and his team will be running and your goal is to beat his team’s time to get a special commemorative t-shirt that says “I beat the Governor!”

Of course, this is not how we had envisioned our 20th Memorial Marathon. As you know, it takes committed sponsors, thousands of volunteers to work the course and water stops. The tireless help from the cities of Oklahoma City, Nichols Hills and the Village that host our course and law enforcement, paramedics, fire fighters and medical personnel to staff 16 medical stations along the course provide amazing support. All of these people are already working extra hours to keep our communities safe.

We CAN still run the Memorial Marathon in October 2020 and make it very special. We will just be running together for the same cause by running separately and working to prevent the spread while furthering our mission by Looking Back and Running Forward.

We look forward to running this journey with you and to seeing your face at the start line on April 25, 2021. In the meantime, I hope you will run virtually with us and enjoy the technology and media that will be made available to make this an experience you will always remember.

posted Thursday August 6th