The Great Yorkshire Run will celebrate its tenth anniversary in a new location for 2016.
The 10K run takes place in Harrogate on Sunday 24 July, making the move from Sheffield where it had been staged every year since 2007.
Organisers The Great Run Company have partnered with famous local brewer T&R Theakston who will be sponsoring the event for the next three years. Theakston is one of the country’s best known family-run brewing companies and is famed for its Old Peculier ale.
The Great Yorkshire Run – Harrogate in association with Theakston, will be run in conjunction with Harrogate Harriers & Athletic Club, who have staged a 10K event in the town for 30 years – and will boast an intimate and exclusive feel, with just a few thousand entries available.
The 6.2mile route starts and finishes on Montpellier Hill in the Montpellier Quarter of the North Yorkshire town, home to exclusive shops, cafes, bars and restaurants.
The two-lap route takes runners around some of the stunning landscapes of the town. Starting on Montpellier Hill you will head out on a short lap, turning up Valley Drive and then on to Cold Bath Road, towards the Stray, before heading back down Montpellier Hill via Otley Road.
The second lap plots a course through Valley Gardens, turning onto Harlow Moor Road and into the bridle path towards RHS Harlow Carr, eventually turning back into Pinewoods along the footpath back onto Harlow Moor Road before heading down Harlow Moor Drive and out onto Cold Bath Road, following the same route back towards Montpellier Hill as the first lap.
Harrogate Harriers’ chairman Tony Essex is excited about the new location for the Great Yorkshire Run.
Tony said:
Our partnership with The Great Run Company will take the event to another level.
It will be fantastic to see the runners on the Stray, through the Valley Gardens and on the streets past the iconic landmarks of the town.
Eighteen months ago the town turned out in their thousands to watch the finish of the first stage of The Tour de France and I am sure this event could cause similar excitement.
I am hoping the Great Yorkshire Run – Harrogate in association with Theakston and the partnership with the Great Run Company will raise the profile of athletics and running in the area and Harrogate Harriers in particular.
Great Run Company chief executive Mark Hollinshead said:
Harrogate represents all that is great about Yorkshire so it’s totally fitting that the Great Yorkshire Run moves to this world famous town to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the event.
We are especially pleased to have engaged the support of Theakston, who have such a rich affinity with Yorkshire, and we are excited for the future of the Great Yorkshire Run in Harrogate.
Simon Theakston, Executive Director at Theakston, said:
We are delighted to be sponsors of the Great Yorkshire Run’s first staging in Harrogate. As a local company it gives us a wonderful opportunity to support and promote our district to the many people from all over Yorkshire and further afield who will be taking part.
The sponsorship supports our strategy of maintaining a high profile for our company and to emphasise our proud Yorkshire heritage.
Lois Toyne, Harrogate Borough Council’s Head of Culture, Tourism and Sports said:
We are delighted to welcome the Great Yorkshire Run to Harrogate for the first time and to help celebrate its tenth anniversary.
The Great Yorkshire Run has become a significant event on the sporting calendar and we are sure that runners of all levels will enjoy the route which will take them through the town centre, picturesque Valley Gardens, the Pine Woods and past Harlow Carr.
Harrogate is developing a strong reputation for hosting major sporting events such as the Tour de France, which visited the town in 2014. The Great Yorkshire Run – Harrogate in association with Theakston is another feather in the sporting cap for Harrogate and we look forward to welcoming runners from around the country to take part in this fantastic event.
