Now a staple on the Danish Crown Prince Family’s calendar, the Royal Run has been postponed entirely for 2020 due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
In a statement on the Royal House website, Crown Prince Frederik said:
“Royal Run has in a few years developed into a day of celebration, colors and above all a fantastic running community across the country.
“Thousands of people have taken part, both as participants and as spectators – it has been a true people’s party. But gathering so many people at the beginning of September this year no longer seems realistic. The Royal Run simply cannot be run in the spirit that has characterized the race – a rallying point for Danes across age, across the kingdom.
“Instead, with my family, I will look forward to Pentecost 2021, where we hopefully can be reassembled for a Royal Run as we know it. Until then, I hope everyone retains the joys of running and physical exercise.”
The Royal Run’s Steering Group representative, Morten Mølholm, said in a statement on the Royal Run’s website that “Our most important task is to ensure the safety and health of all participants and we do not believe it is realistic and justifiable to bring so many people to Royal Run after the summer. It is a pity, because many of us had hoped and were looking forward to the possibility of meeting at a large community party in our running shoes.”
The Royal Run was initially postponed from June to September of this year but with the ongoing pandemic it was decided this week to cancel this year’s iteration entirely. The Royal Run will return in 2021, with dates set for 24 May across Denmark and 17 May in Nuuk, Greenland.
The 70,000 people who had already signed up to participate this year will have their registration carried over into 2021 and the same route which had been proposed for this year will be used next year as well.
In 2019, over 80,000 Danes participated in the Royal Run which had been founded in 2018 as an event for Crown Prince Frederik’s 50th birthday celebrations. It was created for Crown Prince Frederik to run with the Danish population and all members of the Crown Prince’s family have participated in this annual event.
