Member Article

Hundreds of runners support historic running event

More than 500 runners took to the streets of Tameside and the High peak in Greater Manchester this weekend to take part in one of the region’s most iconic running events, which was reborn after a 14 year absence.

The Tour of Tameside returned as a three day long event from Friday 19th – Sunday 21st June 2015, and saw runners clock up the distance of a marathon over the course of the weekend.

Sports Tours International reintroduced a new version of the original week-long Tour which was founded by marathon legend Ron Hill MBE in 1983.

The event began on Friday evening with a six mile fell race at Copley Leisure Centre in Stalybridge, followed by the Longdendale trail half marathon on Saturday morning, which was dedicated to PC Nicola Hughes, who tragically lost her life in an incident in Tameside in September 2012. The Tour drew to a close with a seven mile race around Hyde on Sunday morning 21st June.

Mohammed Aburezeq, of Altrincham & District Athletics Club was crowned the overall Men’s Tour winner, after finishing in first place on each stage of the Tour. Kirsty Longley of Liverpool Pembroke and Sefton was the ladies Tour winner, after winning two of the three stages.

Chris Bird, Chief Executive of Sports Tours International, commented: “What a fantastic weekend – this was definitely the ’Friendship’ Tour of Tameside. New runners, former Tour of Tameside veterans and the communities in Tameside and the High Peak came together for a real festival of running over three days.

Chris added: “The atmosphere over the weekend was incredible, so a big thank you to everyone who was involved. The level of interest to bring back this event was phenomenal and the efforts of everyone involved over the past 12 months paid off as it was a great success. We’re looking forward to welcoming even more runners at the next Tour of Tameside!“

The event was supported by local organisations including New Charter Homes, Active Tameside, Tameside 4 Good and Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Sports Tours International .