A family of five from Newcastle is gearing up and getting ready to tackle Britain’s most beautiful 10k race.
Five members of the Haley family, from Ponteland, will be taking part in the Active Northumberland Kielder 10k at Northumbrian Water’s Kielder Reservoir on Saturday October 7th.
Mum and dad, David and Sam Haley, will be joined on the starting line by sons Joe (26), Connor (22) and Jake (20) and the family will be running the 10k together for the very first time.
David Haley said: “The Active Northumberland Kielder Marathon and 10k are amazing events, the course is just beautiful and although we’ve walked it many times and we have all completed various events separately, we’ve never run this course together as a family.
“We are all quite fit and healthy, Connor and Jake train at the gym, Joe has recently completed his first half marathon and both Sam and I have recently started running to keep fit and so we thought the 10k would be a great challenge for us all to get involved with.”
The family’s training for the 10k is going well with David, Sam and Joe regularly running five to seven kilometre runs and Connor and Jake putting plenty of hours in the gym and out on the basketball court.
The five are running the race hoping to raise money for The Sick Children’s Trust in Newcastle, where Sam is on the fundraising committee, and who they all regularly run fundraising activities for.
And if completing the 10km track wasn’t enough of a challenge the family have given themselves an extra obstacle to overcome.
They have had running vests especially made with the letters H A L E Y printed on them and their aim is to run the whole course together in the correct order.
Sam Haley, General Manager of Kielder Waterside, said: “The Sick Children’s Trust is a charity that does incredible work right across the region and it’s an organisation that we are really passionate about.
“We do all we can to raise funds for them whenever we can and the Kielder 10k should allow us to raise a little bit of money while also having a fantastic time together as a family.
“We are really looking forward to the Kielder Marathon weekend and people should keep an eye out for us on the day and hopefully, if we can all keep up with each other and stay in a line, they should be able to easily spot team HALEY coming!”
The Active Northumberland Kielder Marathon Weekend 2017 is run by Events of the North, a company led by Olympians Steve Cram and Allison Curbishley, in conjunction with Northumbrian Water, Active Northumberland, and Northumberland County Council.
Race director Steve Cram said: “I think this is a first for the Active Northumberland Kielder 10k and it’ll be quite an achievement if the Haley family can stay together, lined up and in the correct order around the whole of the track.
“The fact they are running it as a family is a great story and it really embodies everything that the marathon weekend is all about – family, support, enjoyment, exercise and togetherness. It’s a great story and we wish them all the luck in the world and hope they manage to raise some money for a very worthwhile charity.”
The weekend’s events are all based around Northumbrian Water’s picturesque Kielder Reservoir and waterside sites and whether it’s the Marathon, Half Marathon, 10k or the Run Bike Run the views for athletes and spectators are spectacular.
David Hall, Head of Leisure Strategy at Northumbrian Water, said: “Hats off to the Haley family for their efforts and I think everyone will be now watching out for them on October 7th and they will certainly be hard to miss.
“The Kielder Reservoir and the Waterside provide a fantastic backdrop for the event but it’s the people who make the event such a success. Every Marathon, Half Marathon, 10k and Run Bike Run entrant has a story to tell and that’s what makes the Active Northumberland Kielder Marathon weekend so special.”
Northumberland County Councillor, Cath Homer, cabinet member with responsibility for leisure said: “Every year the Kielder Marathon grows in popularity and profile. It is a beautiful, scenic route that gives competitors and spectators the opportunity to be part of a really special sporting event while putting Northumberland firmly in the spotlight.”
To find out more information about the Sick Children’s Trust visit: www.sickchildrenstrust.org
To donate to Team HALEY visit Haley’s Kielder 10k Just Giving page visit: Http://www.justgiving.com/HaleyTeam
For more information on the events taking place at Kielder Marathon Weekend 2017 and to take part visit www.kieldermarathon.com