The 2021 Los Angeles Marathon has been postponed for a second time ©Getty Images

This year’s Los Angeles Marathon has been postponed for the second time due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The annual event was originally scheduled to be held on March 21 before a decision was taken last November to move it to May 23 providing it received support from city officials and health experts.

But with coronavirus cases continuing to rise in the United States, organisers have decided to postpone the race again as it now looks to stage it later this year.

The Rose Bowl 5K, the Rose Bowl Half Marathon and the LA Big 5K have also been moved as a result of the COVID-19 situation in the city.

"Given the current state of the pandemic in the Los Angeles area and the pace of the vaccine roll-out, the Rose Bowl Half Marathon and 5K, the LA Big 5K and the Los Angeles Marathon presented by ASICS will be rescheduled for the fall 2021," wrote organisers The McCourt Foundation in a post on social media.

"We are currently exploring dates with our host cities and venues.

"This process will take some weeks and a decision regarding new dates will be announced as soon as possible."

Bayelign Teshager and Margaret Muriuki were the winners of last year's Los Angeles Marathon which was held at the start of the coronavirus pandemic ©Getty Images
Bayelign Teshager and Margaret Muriuki were the winners of last year's Los Angeles Marathon which was held at the start of the coronavirus pandemic ©Getty Images

Last year's marathon was held on March 8 despite the COVID-19 outbreak.

Four days after the race, the state of California had recorded 237 cases of coronavirus.

At the start of last month, Los Angeles County was seeing daily cases rise to more than 15,000 with 200 deaths per day.

Yesterday, the county reported 5,925 new infections and 124 deaths, to increase the total to 1.1 million cases and 16,770 fatalities.

"All decisions will be made with the health and safety of all athletes, volunteers and city officials as our top priority," added The McCourt Foundation.

"We thank our athletes for their understanding, and we look forward to producing exceptional race experiences as soon as circumstances allow, to celebrate a healthier world, and our coming together as a community to support our health causes and programmes in a time of great need."

The Los Angeles Marathon has been held in March every year since its inception in 1986 and usually attracts more than 25,000 runners.

Last year’s men’s and women’s races were won by Ethiopian Bayelign Teshager and Kenyan Margaret Muriuki respectively.