Run Britain Confirm Swansea In First Ever Grand Prix Series

Aug. 26, 2010 - PRLog -- The Run Britain Grand Prix is a five race series consisting of the best British 10k and half marathon road races and is open to athletes eligible to compete for Great Britain and Northern Ireland with a total prize purse on offer in excess of £55,000.  

The Admiral Swansea Bay 10k is already rated one of the top races of its kind in the UK and has recently been ranked the 6th best PB-friendly race in the UK by the readers of Runner’s World Magazine.  

The inaugural grand prix will cover the peak Spring and Autumn racing months beginning in 2011 with the Reading Half Marathon in March, continuing with the Bristol 10k and BUPA London 10,000 in May, the Admiral Swansea Bay 10K on September 25 and finally climaxing with the EDF Energy Birmingham Half Marathon in October.

Run Britain hopes to further raise the profile of the Admiral Swansea Bay 10K race by making it one of the five main choices for athletes of a certain standard and expects the Grand Prix series to be much talked about and be aspirational within the road running community, both for runners and for other ambitious races.  

Councillor Graham Thomas, Swansea Council's Cabinet Member for Culture, Recreation and Tourism, said, “With over 2,600 road races in the UK in 2011 it is tremendous news for the city that the Admiral Swansea Bay 10K has again been officially recognised as one of the leading road races in the UK and has been selected to be one of only five road races to feature in the inaugural Run Britain Grand Prix running series.”  

“The inclusion of the Admiral Swansea Bay 10K in this prestigious series will not only help raise the profile of Swansea but it will re-establish the Admiral Swansea Bay 10K as one of the must-do iconic races in the UK.”

Steve Brace, Head of Athletics Development with Welsh Athletics, said,
“We are delighted that the Admiral Swansea Bay 10K will be part of this exciting new initiative.  This reaffirms Swansea and Wales in the forefront of the development of endurance running and will assist with improving athletes performance, raising the profile of the sport and encouraging greater participation whilst giving new challenges for our developing athletes to aspire to.”

Run Britain is a not-for-profit organisation reinvesting in the sport of road running and is the official “arm” of UK Athletics.  The aim of Run Britain is to support and improve road races and identify and improve the standards of athletes', races, medical provision, organisation of races, officials and volunteer development.  Run Britain organises the most comprehensive events calendar in the UK with all UKA licensed events listed.

Further details about the Run Britain Grand Prix series are available at www.runbritain.com/grandprix.

There is still time to enter this year’s Admiral Swansea Bay 10K and Junior 1K, 3K and 5K runs but don’t delay as the closing date is Tuesday 31 August and there are only a few places remaining.   To enter visit www.swanseabay10k.com.  For more information contact the Special Events team on 01792 635428 during normal office hours.

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