British sporting legends Roger Black and Sharron Davies have officially launched this year’s EDF Birmingham Half Marathon.More than 12,000 runners pounded the pavements around the city for last year’s event.
Organisers are looking to smash that figure this year and the Olympic medallists are due to visit Cannon Hill Park, Moseley, today (Monday) to urge people to sign-up and make the event a huge sporting success for Birmingham.
Planned for October 24, the 13.1-mile run is a big date in the city calender and helps raise funds for a number of local charities.
The race will start in Broad Street, Birmingham’s ‘Golden Mile’ of pubs and bars before winding it’s way through Digbeth and on to Bournbrook, Bournville and Cotterridge before heading back into the city centre. The course takes a detour through Cannon Hill Park before heading back to Broad Street via a loop around Five Ways.
Coun Martin Mullaney, the city’s cabinet member for leisure, sport and culture, said: “Last year’s event was a huge success and we hope that this year even more people will take part.
“It was introduced as a means of inspiring more people to be more active, more often and its success demonstrates Birmingham’s ability to stage great major events.
“I would like to encourage people from across the city and region to come and be part of this event either as runners and volunteers or just by lining the route and cheering on the thousands of entrants as they take on this challenge.” More than 200 elite runners competing in last year’s race which was eventually won by Eritrean Zersenay Tadese in the men’s race and Kenyan Mary Keitany in the women’s.
Tadese clinched his third successive World Half Marathon title in just 59 minutes 35 seconds.
Anyone interested in running in the 2010 event can sign-up via the official website www.birmingham halfmarathon.com
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