Refund offered for cancelled Wigan half marathon

The 13.1-mile race was due to take place on Sunday morning as part of Run Wigan Festival, but was cancelled due to snow and ice on the course.

Runners were instead invited to take part in the 5k race being held on the same day.

Related: In Pictures: Wigan Run FestivalOrganisers from charity Joining Jack have been looking at various options since the cancellation was announced, including holding the race on another date.

But in a statement published on Tuesday afternoon, they said the charity "simply cannot incur the costs".

It said: "After a number of discussions with everyone involved in the staging of the event, it is with great regret that we are unable to reschedule the 2018 Wigan half marathon.

"As a charity, friends and a family, we were all absolutely heartbroken when we realised that cancelling the half marathon in the small hours of Sunday morning was the only option left open to us."

Instead, the 1,427 half marathon runners are being offered the chance to either complete the route virtually and receive a finisher's medal and T-shirt, or apply for a full refund.

The statement continued: "We would appeal to runners that option two is taken only as a last resort. Our event was created to raise as much money as possible for our organising charity Joining Jack to fund research and help boys living with an incurable muscle-wasting disease, many of who are unable to run.

"Despite the success of the 5k and the family mile, Sunday's event did come with a number of costs which the charity will need to cover."

Runners have until Monday, April 30 to complete the virtual run or can claim a full refund by Saturday, March 31.

They should email [email protected] with their name, address, race number and preferred choice.

All runners who decide not to take a refund can have a half marathon T-shirt posted to their home address.

Organisers say they hope to focus on making next year's event "bigger and better than ever".