A NEW running and walking event, rescheduled due to Covid, is back in the calendar for 2022.
Copeland Borough Council’s Run The Edge challenge will take place between Millom and Whitehaven on Saturday, June 18, 2022. It is expected to welcome more than 800 competitors to the picturesque coast.
The event is part of the council’s Connecting Cumbria’s Hidden Coast Programme, which is funded by the Coastal Communities Fund and Sellafield Ltd.
Organised in partnership with Breaking Strain Events, the endurance challenge includes a 10km run, a half marathon and an epic ultra-marathon taking in the full sweep of the borough’s coastline. Participants can choose to enter any, and can walk or run the routes.
Copeland’s Mayor, Mike Starkie, said: “It’s great to see Run the Edge happening in the real world next year, and we can’t wait to welcome the participants. Although people took part virtually this year, there can be little to match being immersed in the scenery of our incredible coastline.
“As well as helping us promote wellbeing and an active lifestyle, the event will showcase this little-known pocket of beauty in Cumbria.
“Our tourism and other businesses took a real knock during the pandemic – our support for this project, and others like it, will help them build back and support jobs. We will work closely with businesses and communities to maximise the benefits to the area.”
All the routes largely follow the new English Coastal Path, with the ultra marathon starting in Millom and ending in Whitehaven. The route takes in beaches, dunes, farm land and towering cliffs.
The events are accessible to people of different fitness and experience levels, and can be run or walked. How to enter, including details of entry fees, can be found at https://theedgerace.com/.
Tracey West of Sellafield Ltd said: “This event and wider programme complements some of our other investments on the coast line. By June next year, people will see the construction of the Coastal Activity Centre progressing and the lighthouses will have been returned to their former glory. These have been to improve the tourism offer in the town and enable locals to get out and enjoy the outdoors on their door step.”
This will be the event’s first year as a physical event after going virtual earlier in 2021. It aims to bring visitors to Copeland, promote health and fitness and raise awareness of Copeland’s stunning coastline.
Run the Edge is part of the wider Connecting Cumbria’s Hidden Coast programme, which includes footpath improvements, a new beach café at Silecroft, ‘story walk’ maps and an extensive public art project.
Lee Peyton, director of Breaking Strain Events, said: “After a particularly challenging period during the Covid-19 pandemic, we’re pleased to once again put Run the Edge in the event calendar.
“Every time I’m on the route I get this sense it’s a hidden coastline that people, outwith the local area, are unaware of. It’s dramatic, stunning and there’s these nuggets of incredible history dotted along the route that we feel Run the Edge can bring to light to a wider audience.”