How you can still complete Sunderland City Runs and help city charity at the same time

Runners who were due to take part in postponed races are urged to use their training to help charity.
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The Sunderland City Runs, originally earmarked to take place on the weekend of May 9-10, were postponed in March following the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic and the introduction of social distancing regulations.

Organisers say entrants can still put their training to the test and have now organised virtual races to be held around the same dates.

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The Virtual Sunderland City Runs will take place between Saturday, May 9, and Monday, May 11, with half of each £5 entry fee donated to the city’s St Benedict’s Hospice after tax.

The Sunderland 10k race back in 2011.The Sunderland 10k race back in 2011.
The Sunderland 10k race back in 2011.

Event founder Steve Cram said: “We are still hopeful that we will be able to proceed with our full schedule of events on the rearranged dates in September.

“Meanwhile, we don’t want our original festival weekend to pass without doing something for all of those people who were already preparing or have been putting in the miles during lockdown.

“Using technology, we can still host exciting virtual 5K, 10K and half-marathon races and we’ve got some great medals and prizes too.

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“Most important in the current circumstances is that we can use the Virtual Sunderland City Runs to raise vital funds for our amazing charity partner, St Benedict’s Hospice.”

The hospice’s Anthony McDermott said it had suffered a “significant shortfall” in income since the pandemic and added: “We want to say a huge thank you to everyone at Events of the North for creating this event and

supporting St Benedict’s NHS Hospice at this challenging time.”

Participants can complete one of the original weekend’s three 5k, 10k or half-marathon distances on their own and make more than one attempt to improve their performance.

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They will receive an individual bib number on entry and instructions on how to submit their time online.

Registration opens on Friday, April 24, closes on Friday, May 8, at 10pm and can be made online via www.sunderlandcity10k.com/virtual-event/.

The actual Sunderland City Runs are now scheduled for Saturday, September 26, and Sunday, September 27.

The festival, which also includes the Active Sunderland BIG 3K aimed at beginners and fun runners, is open for entries at www.sunderlandcity10k.com/.

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