Runners take to streets as Tour of Tameside returns after Covid

JOE Baker and Aliesha Smith were crowned winners of the first post Covid-19 restriction free Tour of Tameside.

After races on four consecutive days, which attracted more than 1,000 runners, Joe, who runs for Huddersfield’s Stadium Runners, was the top male and Aliesha, from East Cheshire Harriers the leading female.

The X-Trail 10K, Hell on the Fell, Hero Half Marathon and Dr Ron Hill Hyde 7 comprised just over 32 miles with Baker competing them in 3hrs 10min 46 sec and Smith 4:03.00.

Stephen Kenny, Running Bee Foundation lead, was delighted with the success of the Tour which was reinstated in 2015.

He said: “It was great to have the first Tour post-Covid when mingling was allowed.

“It was a contrast to 2021 when it was truncated and organised at the last minute because of the pandemic.”

Stephen added there were record numbers in most of the races with one athlete travelling from Sweden specifically to run the Hero Half and also ended up tackling Hell on the Fell.

Apart from the serious running, the Tour also offered others the chance to participate as part of the drive to improve health and wellbeing.

This included new elements like the walking Tour in which parts of the route were walked prior to events.

And on the Sunday as part of the Dr Ron Hill 7 was ‘my first mile’ in which more than 50, mainly children, took to the start line, to run one mile.

It was also a poignant Tour, the first one since the death of Dr Ron Hill who devised the original event which ran from 1981-2000 when there were a gruelling six races in seven days covering 52 miles.

And as a tribute of one of Britain’s greatest long-distance runners, Hyde Town Hall staged an exhibition in his memory.

The stage results.

X-Trail 10K:

Male