Back in 2019 when local businessman, Alan Lewis of Adrenaline Events, started to plan the first ever Welshpool 10k, no one could have anticipated what was to come. With over 800 runners signed up, medals delivered and plans finalised COVID 19 arrived and sadly the event had to be cancelled.
The Welshpool 10k was due to take place on Sunday 29th March but due to fears for public safety with the growing number of coronavirus cases in the UK, Alan had no choice but to cancel the event to protect runners, volunteers and local community.
If you were signed up to take part in the event, you would have been awarded your fabulous race medal, Adrenaline Event buff and a Family day pass to Powis Castle. As it was unlikely that the event would be able to be rearranged in 2020, runners received these gifts in the post.
Welshpool 10k wasn’t the only event affected by COVID 19. Since the arrival of the virus, Hope House Children’s hospices have been faced with cancelling all their events for the foreseeable future and have had to close all of their shops for a period of time. They fear their income could be up to £3 million down by the end of the year. The charity started to look at how they could do things different to ensure they could keep their doors open.
In a very generous act of kindness, Alan contacted the Fundraising Team at Hope House and offered to donate 100 medals, buffs and passes that he had left from the event for the team to host a virtual 10k.
Hope House offered their supporters the chance to get their hands on one of the amazing race medals in return for a min donation of just £20. Supporters were asked to run a virtual 10k from their home, following current government guidelines, and email in proof of their run.
Incredibly this virtual event sold out in less than 4 days, attracting runners from all over the Country and even the World!! The team were delighted when two young ladies from South Korea signed up as they saw the medal depicting Powis Castle and thought it looked like a sparkly Hogwarts.
To date the virtual event has raised over £5000 to help Hope House continue to be there for local seriously ill children and their families. “We are so grateful to Alan for his support” said Lynsey Kilvert Fundraising Team Leader “Things have been so difficult for us during the past few months and we are so lucky to have such wonderful people in our local community like Alan who are wanting to support us in any way they can”.
Hope House have recently launched their own Virtual 10k, details of this event can be found at hopehouse.org.uk/Event/10k-virtual-run and Adrenaline Events will be back with their second Oswestry 10k on 18 October 2020 www.entryhub.co.uk/2020-oswestry-10k