Breakfast with Steve Cram and Paula Radcliffe ahead of City Runs

Steve Cram and Paula Radcliffe laid out their vision for this year's Worcester City Runs at a business breakfast meeting at Wildwood Kitchen in Chapel Walk.

READ MORE: Skatepark at the Hive is one bold suggestion

Organised by Events of the North, the runs will see people of all ages and abilities take part in Worcester on Saturday, September 16 and Sunday, September 17.

New features include the Worcester BID Business Challenge - 'bragging rights for the winning team' (which must have a minimum of three employees). The winners are calculated by working out the lowest average time of the first three finishers.  

Sunday is expected to see thousands of people pounding the pavements and pathways for the half-marathon, 10k and junior runs.

PASSION: Steve Cram's enthusiasm proved infectious as he laid out the plan for this year's Worcester City Runs when he spoke at Wildwood Kitchen (Image: James Connell/Newsquest)

It's the 10th year of the run but the 9th actual running event because it did not take place during the pandemic.

Mr Cram, 62, nicknamed "The Jarrow Arrow", set world records in the 1,500 metres, 2,000 metres, and the mile during his athletics career but has now turned his energies towards perfecting the winning formula for Worcester City Runs.

The first man to run 1,500 metres in under 3 minutes and 30 seconds, he won the 1,500 metres gold medal at the 1983 World Championships and the 1,500 metres silver medal at the 1984 Olympic Games.

He said: "It's a fantastic city, brilliant for running. There are students arriving in Worcester that weekend who will be going 'wow, there's lots going on.' We want this to project a vibrant city with something for everyone."

He said he hoped this year would be more of a joined-up weekend, linking up with Worcester Paint Festival and Worcester Music Festival.

Paula Radcliffe, former world champion in the marathon, half marathon and cross country, was in Worcester in 2014, running the 10k.

The 49-year-old launched the Families on Track event in Durham in 2019 and this year will be the third time it has been held in Worcester.

This year she will be taking part with her children, Isla, 16, and Raphael, 12, in the popular event at Worcester Racecourse on Saturday, September 16.

The 'continuous relay' based around a family zone sees families run 10k between them with no prizes for first places but a few for fancy dress.  

The three-time winner of the London Marathon and New York Marathon champion and previous marathon world record holder and gold medal-winning athlete said young people had 'lost out' because of the pandemic and this was a chance to 'get them back to where they should have been'.

"The aim is just to encourage people to spend some quality time together, put the phones down and have some fun, running around as a family," she said.

CHARITY: Steve Cram, Richard Johnson, Nicky Langford, Alison Davis and Paula Radcliffe. The hope is that the event will raise money for the Worcestershire Acute Hospitals Charity (Image: James Connell/Newsquest)

Also present at the breakfast was Alison Davis, 66, volunteer manager at Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust who will run the half marathon on Sunday for the Worcestershire Acute Hospitals Charity, the event's charity partner. 

She will take part in the Great North Run the weekend before. Last year the city run helped runners raise £15,000 for additional services for the acute trust and support for staff.

Richard Haynes, the acute trust's director of communications, expressed the hope that this year's event would surpass the total raised last year.

Also present were charity volunteer Richard Johnson, running the 10k, and Nicky Langford, the community fundraiser for the charity.