HUNDREDS braved the Cumbrian weather to take part in an ‘amazing’ event which raised tens of thousands for good causes.
The Keswick Half Marathon took place on Sunday, September 24 with over 500 people running in the annual event.
The half marathon is hosted by Keswick Rugby Club, with all entry fee’s going towards the running of the club, this year the club’s main funding focus is ‘The Big Build’, which will see the club house and Davidson Park undertake a major upgrade.
This year the event was organised by Sara Young and Angela Turnbull who took over the running of the race in this its 41st year.
Sara said: “It was amazing, it just generates such good support, we had 582 runners registered to run the race which is a significant increase from last year.
“All entry fee’s go towards costs of supporting Keswick RUFC, and because all proceeds go towards this it does get an awful lot of support from marshals and volunteers.
“This year we had a new focus of supporting the big build, which will not only support rugby but will be a community hub in Keswick.
“Ironically one of the reasons for our Big Build is that the club house repeatedly floods, and our fundraising half marathon was impacted by the rain earlier in the week, but in true Keswick RUFC spirit we decided to move the finish line from the flood affected areas.
The course had to be officially remeasured towards the end of the week due to the weather. Sara said: “I guess it just reiterates that the impact of the floods is just one of the reasons for the Big Build project.”
As well as raising funds for the club, the event also allowed participants to raise funds for a number of good causes on the day.
Sara said: “There was amazing fundraising support for amazing fundraising support for various charities throughout the day, some of the senior club members raised over £2,500 for Teenage Cancer Trust in memory of James Addyman, then we had Lilly Hodgson, Katie Pepper and Emily Cartmell who raised in excess of £10,000 for SUDC UK so it’s a much wider support than just for Keswick Rugby Club.
"I think that’s what I particularly love about the event, it’s not just concentrated on the club, were a mechanism for making it happen in all sorts of area’s.”
Sara thanked the support of the ‘amazing army of volunteers’ who she said the day couldn’t happen without- this included over 50 marshals on the course as well as volunteers back at the club house and at the finish line.
Main sponsors PFK Estate Agency were also thanked for their support, as well as Temple Sports, Herdy, Outkit , Rolly’s Fudge, Kong Running and Booths.
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