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Kielder Marathon Runners

Thousands Conquer Kielder

We report from the weekend's beautiful race action in Kielder...

A record number of people headed to Northumberland at the weekend to participate at this year’s Kielder Marathon weekend. Held at Kielder Waterside Park, the event returned for its 14th year with over 3,000 runners taking part, from the North East, the rest of the UK and around the world.

Founded in 2010, the Kielder Marathon is known as ‘Britain’s most beautiful’ and has grown into one of the best loved running events on the calendar with a marathon, half marathon, 10K, gravel duathlon, and a series of junior runs to enjoy. Along with leading club representatives, many take part to achieve personal goals or raise money for good causes, including this year’s official charity, 4Louis.

This year it was Ricky Lightfoot, of Ellenborough AC, and Jane Hodgson, of Morpeth Harriers who took home the titles of male and female marathon winners, with times of 02:34:24 and 03:16:05 respectively.

In the Half Marathon is was Callum Hanson, of Pudsey & Bramley AC who was the first male to cross the line of the half-marathon, finishing in a fast 01:14:29. Luisa Hartley was the female winner with a time of 01:30:39.

As in previous years, many of the 2024 runners had personal and interesting stories to tell, one of those was Judith Sadler who celebrated her 70th birthday by taking part in the Kielder 10K with 69 friends who she has recruited, raising money for Alive and Kicking, a social enterprise that supports sustainable employment in Zambia and Kenya. Many participants come back to Kielder every year and 11 ever-presents tackled the marathon this year.

Speaking after the event, founder Steve Cram commented: "Today rounded it all off brilliantly. The rain stayed away and we had great conditions for the runners. Looking at the times at the front of each field, it's clear that many of them took advantage of that! The course and our army of volunteers coped really well with a record number of participants."

If you'd like to know more about next year's event which will take place on 4/5 October, visit the Kielder Marathon website.

Image: Events of the North

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