Tour of Tameside to return in 40th anniversary year

The Running Bee Foundation's iconic Tour of Tameside is returning this July, just in time to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the very first Tour.

The four-day festival of running offers a variety of routes and terrains to challenge participants both physically and mentally, whilst taking in some of the most picturesque sights across Tameside.

The race schedule is as follows:

· Thursday 29 July - Day 1 - X Trail, Park Bridge/Daisy Nook Country Park

· Friday 30 July - Day 2 - Hell on the Fell, Stalybridge

· Saturday 31 July - Day 3 - Hero Half-Marathon, Longdendale Trail, Hadfield

· Sunday 1 August - Day 4 - Dr Ron Hyde 7, Hyde

In celebration of the 40th anniversary, The Running Bee Foundation has launched a retro 80s Tour of Tameside Technical T-shirt, created by renowned sporting brand RONHILL, which is available to buy here www.runningbeefoundation.co.uk/merchandise. The shirt was designed taking inspiration from the original 1981 Tour of Tameside logo.

All stages of the Tour have been carefully chosen to be challenging but achievable by runners of all abilities, and are the inspiration of marathon legend Dr Ron Hill MBE, who created the original race series back in 1981.

The Tour is now delivered by The Running Bee Foundation, who provide grants to community initiatives across the region that promote health, wellbeing and activities which help fight the reduction of childhood obesity.

The Running Bee Foundation’s Chair of Trustees, Carl Austin-Behan OBE DL, said: “As the Tour of Tameside enters its 40th year, The Running Bee Foundation are extremely proud of the support shown by our sponsors, supporters and of course, the participants of previous races. We look forward to seeing everyone at this year’s event, which is one of the highlights in our calendar." 

All profits raised from the Tour of Tameside will be distributed from the Foundation to good causes and initiatives throughout Tameside to help fund health and wellbeing community activities. 

You can book now for the Tour of Tameside and if you wish to support the organisation by donating or volunteering, get in touch at www.runningbeefoundation.co.uk or via Twitter @TheRunningBee.

Last year’s Tour, originally scheduled for 11 to 14 June, had to be rescheduled due to lockdown restrictions. All previous entrants have been automatically transferred to this year's event.

Single race entry begins at £16 for Club Runners and £18 for Standard Entry, with full Tour entry from £63. The £5 MyFirstMile fun run is open to all ages and ability levels. This is not timed and all that finish the short distance will get a special medal at the end. 

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