What started as a jog between a few mates in the early seventies has grown over the decades to become the third oldest running festival in New South Wales.
Over 500 people lined up at the start for the 51st Tamworth Running Festival yesterday. In partnership with Tamara Private Hospital, the festival includes seven different events, ranging from the Happy Smiles Dental Dash for Cash all the way up to the Tallowwood Health Half Marathon.
Runners came from all over the country, with participants trekking from Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Northern New England in the north, to as far south as Canberra.
The annual festival is put up by Tamworth Triathlon Club, whose secretary Greg Poetschka was on hand to give an overview of the event which started as a 10km run.
“It’s been 51 years and we haven’t missed a race. Even with Covid, we got a window in August where we got the green light and we were able to get people out for a run.”
“There weren’t any big presentations or anything, but we still got it done. So yeah we’ve been continuous since it started.”
The festival started with the initial 10km run, which was joined with the fun five, followed by a 5km community walk which is now 6km.
The half marathon is an addition that has taken even the organizers by surprise.
“We brought it in about three or four years ago” Poetschka said, “and last year we had about 80 runners. We’ve got more than double that this year with over 170 registered.”
The half marathon is a bit of a bucket list item for many runners says Poetschka, especially now with the option to participate in the “triple threat”.
“Some will do the halfmarathon, back up and do the ten, and then do the fun five.”
It’s indicative of the appeal of the festival to the broader community beyond simply the competitive runners. Richard Squires, Tamworth Triathlon Club Committee Member and Tamworth Running Festival Volunteer said that events like the 5k fun run, 6km walk and dash for cash enable people to join the sport at a relatively low bar,
“All you really need is a water bottle and decent pair of shoes,” he said.
“If you look at the businesses who are getting behind it this year – there’s Happy Smiles Dental, Tallowwood Health, Pro Active Physio and Sports – this is an event that is really good for people to get out, enjoy some company, get fit and obviously benefit mentally from running.”
Results and winners details will be posted to their Facebook page.
Top image: a happy runner crossing the finish line at today’s Tamworth Running Festival (Facebook)
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