TWO former international athletes are on a mission to encourage more people from disadvantaged backgrounds to take up running in Warrington.
Matt Wood and Ben Green, who have both competed for England, have launched the RunThrough Foundation after their company, RunThrough Events, became the UK’s largest for mass participation events. This not-for-profit organisation aims to get more people experiencing the physical and mental health benefits of running.
The Foundation’s inaugural Warrington Running Festival is unique – it is the first totally free-to-enter UK running race. Offering 5k, 10k and half marathon distances and open to 6,000 entrants, the 2023 event is designed to break down the economic barriers to taking part in a mass-participation running event.
The aim is to get thousands to participate, with entrants from deprived or low-income areas being given priority for places.
Foundation co-founder, Matt Wood says: “Running is one of the most accessible sports in the UK, but the cost of entering events can be a big barrier. Although we have been planning the launch of the Foundation for some time, the rising costs of food, fuel and energy have made this even more relevant.
“By launching the Foundation and opening the door to a mass participation running event to people who can’t afford entry fees, we aim to introduce more people to running and all the positive physical, mental and social benefits it brings.”
Warrington is the home town of the Foundation’s co-founder, Ben Green. He says: “As our company, RunThrough Events approaches its 10th anniversary in March 2023, we wanted to do something special and launching the Foundation and then making my home town race completely free to enter feels pretty special.”
Ben and Matt hope to trigger the start of a new movement to widen the appeal of running. The intention is for the Foundation to launch other free running events across the UK.
Ben adds: “We want to expand our free events into more cities and towns across the country – helping to spread the benefits of running nationwide. The Warrington Running Festival will allow us to find out whether an event like this can work and we hope it will encourage more partners to support us to fund and run this and future events.
“And we also want to work with those partners to get into communities where low incomes are preventing people from taking up running and organise workshops and coaching to give people the confidence to lace up their running shoes and get out there.”
The Warrington Running Festival on 24 September 2023 will run on a closed-road course and will be chip-timed. Entries will be through a ballot and are open now: www.runthrough.co.uk/event/warrington-running-festival-2023/. The first announcement of who has been successful in the ballot will be made on 31 January 2023.
