City-Bay Fun Run won’t be revived in 2021, organisers say after another Covid-19 cancellation

First the City-Bay Fun Run was cancelled over Covid fears, then hopes were raised it could be revived after all. Now we have a final answer.

Organisers will abandon their push to stage the Lumary City-Bay Fun run this year, following hopes the South Australian institution could be revived.

It’s the second year the event has fallen to the Covid-19 pandemic and restrictions that organiser said made hosting it untenable.

The City-Bay Fun Run Committee on Thursday released a statement saying the November 7 event would not proceed.

“Lumary City-Bay … has been working on delivering a Covid-safe City-Bay for many months now,” the committee said.

“If approval was received within the week, the very tight timelines mean it would be impossible to reinstate some operational aspects of the event and successfully deliver the Lumary City-Bay in 2021.”

SA Health’s Covid Management Committee cancelled the event on Wednesday last week.

Then on Friday morning Police Commissioner Grant Stevens said after a conversation with SA Health, the department would be “having another look” at whether the event could run – potentially by allowing the “running component” amid concerns about thousands of people gathering at end-of-event festivities at Glenelg.

The City-Bay Fun Run start on King William Road, in Adelaide. Picture: Calum Robertson

Chief public health officer Nicola Spurrier wrote to race director Joe Stevens on Friday inviting him to submit a new plan for the event, in line with Covid Management Plan guidelines.

“City-Bay’s volunteer management committee could not see any further changes it could make to running its event on November 7 that would change the reasons SA Health Covid Management Committee sighted for declining the 2021 City-Bay approval,” the committee said.

These included the risk of community transmission from “increased exhalation”, uncontrolled outbreaks in the eastern states and a “significant impact” on the state’s health resources.

Mr Stevens said organisers had not planned to host post-event activities at Glenelg this year. After cancelling arrangements, and with little time before the event’s scheduled date, it was now too difficult to have a new Covid management plan approved and reinstate arrangements in time Mr Stevens said. Postponing the event would likely mean runners faced hot temperatures. While Mr Stevens was disappointed the event was being cancelled for a second year in a row, he said organisers were determined it would be back next year, “with a vengeance”.

This year’s City-Bay had already been pushed back from September 19 amid concerns relating to the pandemic.

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