For the first time in more than 30 months, the popular Launceston Ten will headline the annual Queen's Birthday weekend act but on December 13 this year that will also feature the festival's inaugural half-marathon.

The blockbuster races that did not run last year after its previous owners withdrew their financial support counts on thousands to run every year but was only postponed in April at the outbreak of the pandemic.

Race director and event owner Richard Welsh was confident the festival could take the necessary steps to evade the possibility of a second wave of possible cases.

"We haven't had those specific conversations just yet because it's still absolute pie in the sky stuff at the moment," Welsh said.

"Fun runs are going to look a bit different though than they ever have naturally in the past, but there are plenty of things we can do."

The additional half marathon to the mile, 5km and 10km races is expected to thin the spread of competitors in what will only be a condensed one-day Sunday event.

But Welsh said considerations to keep up social distancing at the start line was to split into smaller groups or stagger the times.

"We can spread out the start points, but once people get out on the roads the nature of the event takes over because obviously we back social distancing over the simple way everyone spreads out anyway," he said.

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"It's really just managing those start lines, which we feel like we can do at our size events.

"There are also plenty of events that are going to go ahead of us between now and then."

That running calendar will extend to most major cities holding their annual marathons this year and on a much larger scale.

That has forced race organisers including Welsh to form the Australian Mass Participation Sports Events Alliance.

Welsh has joined the executive that will "share the learning in this new space".

The alliance will analyse the effects on the 8500 annual nationwide running, triathlon, cycling, surf life saving and swimming events during COVID-19 that is collectively worth $1.1 billion to their industry.

"We already have taken a pretty big hit in that space. We all have an appetite to get up and running again," Welsh said.

The decision in April was to run the festival on November 1, December 6 or December 13, and the latter date was chosen after the Stan Siejka Cycling Classic was canned on the date.

It also ensures running events will be held every month from October to February in the state that starting with the Burnie Ten.

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