THE Reading Half Marathon will take place amid coronavirus fears but "contingency plans" are still in place, organisers have confirmed.

Goldline Events, organisers of the Reading Half Marathon, explained they have "been closely monitoring developments of the coronavirus and noting all UK Government guidance".

A spokesperson said: "As of 12 March 2020, advice is that there is no need or medical justification for event cancellation or postponement.

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"As such, we continue our efforts in the planning of the race, Sunday 5 April 2020."

They continued: "We are fully aware that the outbreak is continuously evolving and the uncertainty on the matter is challenging for all involved; we appreciate the hard work and efforts by all, but our main priority is the health and safety of race participants, spectators, volunteers, operation teams and partner agencies. "We want to reassure our runners that, in collaboration with our partners, we are currently discussing a number of contingency plans and safety measures and thank everyone for their patience and understanding at this time."

The organisers explained runners will be advised through official channels "if and when we receive notice of a UK-wide ban on large scale events".

They explained: "To pre-empt this situation, we are already in discussions with our key partners and stakeholders to postpone the event to a later date.

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"At this stage it’s too early to give any further details on this matter.

"However, we appreciate that it’s not just race entry at stake, our runners will have made travel and accommodation plans for the event.

"We continue to monitor developments on an hourly basis and incorporate public health guidance into both our plans and risk assessment for race weekend."