A town councillor says Keswick and the surrounding area has reached saturation point with the number of athletic events that are hosted.
Cllr Paul Titley told fellow councillors that he had carried out research and discovered that this year there will be 101 fell races in the Lake District, 13 park run locations, six treks/runs organised by the Long Distance Walkers’ Association, 55 road races and a “good number” of trail races which amounted to “the thick end of 1,000 events”.
His comments and findings come in response to The Great Run Company’s bid to organise a new trail running event centred on Keswick.
The 13 Valleys Ultra, supported by the Lake District National Park Authority and born out of the successful Unesco World Heritage Site bid, is scheduled to take place between Friday September 29 and Sunday October 2 using rights of way across the park.
There will be four distances from the 20km course taking in two valleys all the way to the 180km course setting foot in each of the Lake District’s 13 valleys. Organisers also plan to run the race through Keswick town centre and have already been given permission to use the Keswick to Threlkeld trail.
The aim is for the route to become a year-round trail for people to walk at their leisure, spreading the economic impact away from the traditional tourism hubs.
In promotional literature the organisers have asked whether Keswick needs another event and Cllr Titley, who described himself as a keen runner, answered that with a resounding: “No, not really.”
He said that these type of races do not bring economic benefits to Keswick.
“In these big races, people are on fussy diets and are not going to have a big fry up,” said Cllr Titley. “It’s a different sort of competition and it attracts very serious competitors. They don’t tend to eat out.”
He said that it needed to be pointed out to the organisers that is it going to be difficult to run the race through “dawdling shoppers” and added that the athletes would then have to “slalom” their way around the prams and dogs on the K2T trail.
The organisers say the event is being organised with a view to promoting sustainable tourism across the park, not just the usual honeypot sites.
Councillors agreed to take up the option of meeting with organisers to discuss the event further and put questions and concerns to them.
“With sustainability at its heart and part of the entry fee going to the Lake District Foundation to maintain the fells, the hope is that the landscape benefits from the event as much as the event from the landscape.”
