3rd Bocholt Half Marathon cancelled

"Unfortunately, the third Bocholt Half Marathon planned for 3 September will not take place," Markus Schürbüscher and Ullrich Kuhlmann from the organisers' association Stadtsportverband Bocholt, Stadt Bocholt and Stadtmarketing Bocholt announce.

As matter-of-fact as this statement sounds, there is also a lot of pain in the decision, which ultimately had no alternative: "We regret the decision from the bottom of our hearts for all runners, helpers, partners, sponsors and all those who have actively helped us prepare for the third edition so far," say Schürbüscher and Kuhlmann. The self-set number of at least 700 registrations by the end of February was not reached.

Full of optimism

After the grandiose premiere in 2019 and the two Corona failures in 2020 and 2021, the restart last year was successful despite significantly lower registration numbers. "Actually, we had expected a certain degree of 'normality' to set in," Kuhlmann and Schürbüscher were still hoping at the beginning of the planning. But the registration behaviour of the runners had changed significantly after the Corona period. This applies not only to the running events in Bocholt, but can be seen nationwide. The well-known Vivawest Marathon was recently cancelled without replacement.

Immense organisational and financial effort

The effort required for a half marathon event is immense. "This applies to both organisational and financial aspects," emphasises Markus Schürbüscher. Currently, the prices for barriers, logistics, etc. have risen enormously.

The risk for the organisers is still limited. The entry fees do not have to be refunded because the bank collection was deliberately planned for March. Nevertheless, costs have already been incurred that have to be borne by the organisers.

Claim: 1,500 participants

"Our claim was and is to organise a half marathon with at least 1,500 participants in and for Bocholt. In principle, this is still possible, but the risk is too high for us at this point in time," Kuhlmann emphasises. "At the premiere run, the response was huge, we already had over 1,000 registrations by the beginning of March. Currently, despite considerable advertising efforts, we are only registering a little more than 600 participants."

Even if it is true that many participants register for running competitions at short notice, the organisers do not know how many will actually come, the organisers explain.

New attempt in 2024?

Whether there will be a new start in 2024 has not yet been decided. "We are waiting to see how the running scene develops in general," says Kuhlmann. "The Bocholt Half Marathon had all the options to become an institution - similar to Citylauf and Aasee Triathlon," Markus Schürbüscher is sure.

All participants were informed about the cancellation of the run by e-mail.