The Tour of Tameside has been cancelled this year due to events over the past few months and the ongoing situation - but that hasn't stopped Daddies Escape Running Club from completing the challenge in one day!
The four day event, which was relaunched in 2015 and has since grown from strength-to-strength, traditionally takes place on consecutive days and starts with the Cross Trail 10k, followed by the Hell on the Fell, the Hero Half Marathon, and concluding with the Hyde 7 Mile.
However, the Daddies decided to take it up a notch this year and completed the gruelling challenge in one day, raising funds for the Running Bee Foundation in the process.
The runners - which included captain Liam Mellon, Peter Gough, Andy Sykes, Andrew Nurney and Paul Minton - started at 6.30am and crossed the finish line outside Hyde Town Hall at 2.20pm.
It's not the first time the Daddies have completed a mammoth challenge to raise funds for the foundation. In fact, the Daddies completed a 40 mile run from Manchester to Liverpool at the end of August, before completing a continuous 54 mile run from Manchester to Blackpool in December. The Foundation aims to combat the problem of childhood obesity amongst other things.
Blackpool RunWATCH: Daddies Escape completed a 54 mile run from Manchester to Blackpool in aid of The Running Bee Foundation The fitness fanatics set off from Manchester at 11pm on Friday night and were faced with awful conditions along the way. The eight runners were led by two bikers and trailed by an ambulance. We met them in Blackpool and spoke to them about the challenge. Donation link here: https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-display/showROFundraiserPage?userUrl=DaddiesEscape&isTeam=true
Posted by Tameside Reporter on Sunday, December 8, 2019
The club has so far raised over £2,000. Those wishing to donate can do so via the following link: https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/donation-web/fundraiser?fundraiserActivityId=1103996&stop_mobi=yes
In the absence of the real thing, Tour of Tameside organisers have decided to launch a virtual event this year, which costs £10 per person and rewards those who complete it with a medal.
Aspart of their mission to get pupils across the borough fit and active, the Running Bee Foundation partnered up with the Tameside School Sports Partnership in 2019 to deliver its own version of the Dr Ron Hyde 7 Mile to pupils, who completed the challenge by running, jogging or walking the distance over one term.
And while schools are closed at the moment due to the ongoing lockdown, pupils have been completing the seven miles with their parents, as seen below:
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