Coronavirus: Edinburgh Marathon to be shifted from 24 May

The Edinburgh Marathon will shift from its scheduled date of 24 May

The Edinburgh Marathon is the latest sporting event to be postponed because of the coronavirus outbreak.

The event was due to take place on Sunday 24 May, with organisers aiming to announce a new date on Monday.

Over 35,000 runners took part over a two-day marathon festival in Scotland's capital in 2019.

Kenya's Dan Tanui won the men's race last year, with England's Melanie Wilkins dominating the women's race.

"We are devastated to have to make this decision but we believe that this course of action is in the best interests of our participants, our affiliate charities, the event team who deliver the event and the emergency services who support the event," said race director Neil Kilgour.

"We are continuing to work closely with the local authorities in Edinburgh and East Lothian, the emergency service teams and our other delivery partners over the coming hours to secure and communicate a new date for the event which we expect to do on Monday.

"We understand the training and planning that is required by participants to undertake a very personal challenge such as this, and this has been taken into account when securing a new date. We expect to communicate with participants and partners directly on Monday with full details of the new date."