Organisers announce cancellation of this year’s March of Death
For the second year running the Walk of Death, a 100-kilometre walk through three provinces, will not go head. The ultimate test of endurance for walkers had been held every year since 1970 until last year it like so many other events was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. The March of Death starts and finishes at Bornem in Antwerp Province. The thousands of participants have 24 hours to complete 100-kilometre course.
Despite the hope given by the vaccination programme, the ongoing coronavirus pandemic continues to raise questions as to whether large scale events that attract thousands of people from both home and abroad will be able to go ahead. The March of Death is the first such event to announce that it definitely won’t be taking place this year.
The event’s spokeswoman Ilse Robyns told the daily Gazet van Antwerpen that “The Municipality of Bornem has, after talks with the emergency services, said that it can’t give the green light for this year’s event. A large-scale event at which more than 10,000 people gather at the same location is simply not a possibility this year”.
“We would have liked things to have been different and we had hoped that we could have started the 52nd 100-kilometre March of Death with 13,000 walkers again on 13 August. However, ensuring the safety and health of our volunteers and walkers comes first”.
Although the March of Death won’t go ahead the organisers say that they are now working on coming up with a corona-safe alternative.