One of the most iconic events in British athletics is returning to Tameside after an absence of more than a decade, it was announced yesterday.
The Tour of Tameside, which attracted runners from across the globe, will return as a three-day long event from Friday 19 June to Sunday 21 June 2015.
Sports Tours International is reintroducing a new version of the original week-long Tour, the Ultimate 3 Day Running Challenge, which has the support of local organisations and marathon legend Ron Hill MBE, who founded the original Tour of Tameside in 1983.
Ron, who competed in the challenge every year, commented, “It is great to see the Tour of Tameside back on the race calendar after an absence of fifteen years. Events like this are difficult to organise in this day and age, but I am sure it will go from strength to strength and put Tameside in the spotlight once more.”
The event will begin on Friday 19 June with a six mile fell race at Copley Leisure Centre in Stalybridge, followed by the Longdendale trail half marathon on Saturday. The Tour will finish with a seven mile race around Hyde on Sunday 21 June.
Runners who take on all three stages of the event will run the distance of a marathon over the three days.
Chris Bird, Chief Executive of Sports Tours International, said “There has been a phenomenal level of interest and support over the last decade to bring back the Tour of Tameside. The Tour originally took place over one week with six races, but because of the demands it placed on runners having to take time out of work, we have taken the best bits of the Tour and created a weekend-long event.”
Chris added “We have worked closely with Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council and our partners to plan the tour so we can deliver a fantastic event. Not only will the Tour provide various health and sporting benefits for Tameside, it also brings a great sense of community engagement as everyone can get involved.”
Active Tameside, Tameside 4 Good and Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council are involved and working closely with Sports Tours International to engage local communities, community groups and businesses. New Charter Homes is an official partner to the Tour of Tameside and Elivar is the official nutrition partner.
Tickets for the event will go on sale online on Thursday 12 March 2015 at touroftameside.co.uk.
