Tokyo Marathon Canceled Over Coronavirus Fears; Belmont Woman's World Majors Quest On Hold
BELMONT (CBS) - Every time Becca Pizzi laces up for a run. She knows she's one step closer to achieving her dream.
"It's taken me around the world," she said.
Before competing in her 16th Boston Marathon in April, she's currently training to take part in the World Marathon Majors. She's already run five out of the six.
"Boston, Berlin, London, New York, Chicago," she said pointing to her medals. "So I am just missing Tokyo right here!"
But on Monday she was informed that Tokyo Marathon organizers decided to cancel the race for all of the runners except for the top 200 elite out of fear of the spread of the coronavirus in China.
"I got up and I was really upset about it and I thought 'man I put in a lot of hard work for this,'" Pizzi said.
Pizzi has made quite a name for herself when it comes to marathons. She set a world record in the World Marathon Challenge as the fastest female to compete in seven marathons, in seven days on seven continents. So this Tokyo Marathon is a big deal.
"I knew there was going to be a risk in going," Pizzi said. "I did my homework on this marathon and I thought if the race is on then I'm going to go."
Though her Tokyo Marathon was canceled due to the coronavirus, Pizzi says she's not letting that her stop her from achieving her goal, which is completing her final World Marathon Majors even if it takes another year of training.
"The race is going to happen. It's going to happen next year," Pizzi said. "I know that safety first above anything else so I have to know that they made the right decision."
Now she has her eyes set on Boston on behalf of the John Hancock Marathon Team. She's also working on completing a marathon in all 50 states. So far, she has done 33 states and a total of 82 marathons in her life.
"To be able to inspire the world doing what I love to do means a lot to me," Pizzi said.
