Oswestry Half Marathon talks progressing nicely

It emerged last week that UK Run Chat, who organised last week’s Oswestry Half Marathon, had pulled out of the 2018 event prompting uncertainty about the future.

Even more people were expected to sign up for the second event in April next year, with over 500 people already registering an interest.

However, less than a week after the news, Clive Knowles of the British Ironworks, who hosted the event last year insisted talks have been held with three parties. He is meeting one of the organisations this weekend and is hoping to reveal more news next week. He said: “It is essential we keep this event going.

“We have had talks with three different organisations and I am meeting with one on Saturday so I hope to have more news next week. It is important to find someone who we can partner with to keep this event going.

“The people we have spoken to are specialists in organising events like this.

“It is important that we keep this major event, it was really lovely to see so many people involved last year, and we want to keep it going more than one year.”

The 13.1-mile race took runners through the British Ironwork Centre Sculpture Park before heading out on closed country roads and through Oswestry. It also included a hill challenge halfway through.

After the success of this year’s half marathon talks also got under way to see the Ironwork Centre become a regular venue for running with a weekly park run around the site. Local runners have set up a group which already has a race director, committee and volunteers ready to help launch one of the national park runs for the area.

The nearest park runs up to now are in Shrewsbury and Erddig, near Wrexham.

Mr Knowles was pleased to get talks under way with organisations so quickly after the news from UK Run Chat.

He added: “It is nice to make some progress quite quickly, it is an uplifting event for Oswestry and is something that attracted a lot of people.

“Events like this, if they go well like it did last year will help to put Oswestry on a bigger map, and it would have been a shame if it would have slipped after one year.”