THE 401 MARATHON CHALLENGE COMES TO MACCLESFIELD
The Athletics Track at Macclesfield Leisure Centre has been chosen as the ideal location to host #133 and #224 of the 401 Marathon Challenge, being taken on by Ben Smith.
Ben is taking on a world record attempt to run 401 marathons in 401 consecutive days across 309 different locations in the UK. Ben has chosen to run both marathon number 133 and 224 at Macclesfield Leisure Centre’s Athletics Track which has been provided by Everybody Sport and Recreation to support his challenge.
Macclesfield Harriers who train at the athletics track each week have also been a great support to Ben in organising the event in Macclesfield and will play a key part in the success of the marathons in January and April.
The events will take place at the Macclesfield Athletics Track on Monday 11th January and 11th April 2016. You can find the full route here: www.the401challenge.co.uk/marathons/marathon-133-macclesfield
Macclesfield Leisure Centre is looking forward to welcoming Ben and the Macclesfield Harriers on Monday.
Paul Winrow, Everybody Sport and Recreation Operations Director commented,
“Everybody Sport and Recreation are pleased to be able to support Ben in his remarkable challenge. For any individual to attempt to run 401 marathons in 401 days is awe inspiring and as a provider of leisure, health and wellbeing services we are delighted to be able to get involved and support Ben in achieving his personal milestone, which will also raise money and awareness for two such worthy causes.
“Our Macclesfield Athletics Track attracts a number of events throughout the year from the Macclesfield Half Marathon to the Sainsbury’s School Games. Everybody is proud to now host not one but two of the marathons being completed by Ben. We have worked closely with Macclesfield Harriers to make sure Ben has a warm welcome on his visit to Macclesfield.”
It is hoped that the community of Macclesfield will come out in support of Ben’s efforts, with local schools also helping him start off at the track in the morning with a children’s fun run.
Neil Gunn, Macclesfield Harriers commented,
“We [Macclesfield Harriers] are keen to support Ben Smith in his 401 Challenge as we are impressed with his dedication, can see lots of benefits to the running community (at all abilities) and feel that his chosen charities (Stonewall and Kidscape) are very important. The whole event will bring together people of all ages (8-78 years of age) in celebration of running and will also raise the profile of this terrible problem of bullying.
He continued, “The ability to start and end the event at Macclesfield Leisure Centre’s Athletics Track is brilliant as it is a superb facility offering a safe environment for all the people who will take part. Thank you to Everybody Sport and Recreation for supporting the 401 Challenge in January and April 2016”.
The challenge will aim to raise both awareness of the issues of bullying in our society along with £250,000 for two charities dedicated to tackling bullying. The two charities are called ‘Stonewall’ and ‘Kidscape’. Both these charities work tirelessly to support award winning initiatives which really get to the heart of bullying in our UK schools and society in all its forms.
Information about hiring and using the Macclesfield Athletics Track along with all the facilities available at the leisure centre can be found on the Everybody website: www.everybody.org.uk
ENDS
Notes to Editor
Everybody Sport & Recreation – Everybody is a charitable trust established to run public leisure services in the Cheshire East area. The trust aims to provide ‘leisure for life’ by changing lives through healthy recreation. The charity operates 15 leisure facilities as well as leisure development and outreach programmes and the new Everybody Academy, providing local training and career opportunities. For more information please visit: www.everybody.org.uk or follow on twitter @ebleisure
To find out more about the 401 marathon challenge visit: twitter.com/the401challenge
To find out more about Macclesfield Harriers and how to get involved visit: http://www.macclesfield-harriers.co.uk/
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