Organisers press ahead with plans for 2021 Sunderland City Runs

Events Of The North has confirmed that plans to host the Sunderland City Runs 2021, due to be held from 19-20 June, are proceeding as scheduled. After discussions with Sunderland City Council, Public Health England and emergency services, the decision has been taken to continue with preparations for the event to take place. 

Events Of The North and Sunderland City Council are working with all relevant partners to ensure that the national and local COVID restrictions expected on the event date will be fully complied with at all times. With safety being a priority, various procedures will be put in place, including a series of social-distancing measures and expanded timescales incorporated into the event organisation. 

As a result of essential adaptations, the 2021 Sunderland City Runs will look and feel a little different to previous editions, but Events Of The North is making plans to ensure that everyone involved enjoys the opportunity to be part of the return to running events. All those who had deferred entries from last year will now get the chance to run their race and organisers anticipate that many others will sign up to join them on the start line, in either the Sunderland City 5K on Saturday 19 June, and the Sunderland City 10K or Half Marathon on Sunday 20 June. Entries are open now at www.sunderlandcity10k.com.

Event director Steve Cram comments: “We are thrilled to be in a position to press ahead with planning for a very special weekend in Sunderland. Of course, we will continue to monitor the local and national situation closely and understand that any changes to regulations will have to be adhered to. However, working with Sunderland City Council, we have put in a huge effort behind the scenes to adapt the Sunderland City Runs and we are all confident that we can deliver a brilliant weekend of races in June. People everywhere have really missed the sense of occasion of being part of a big event and everyone knows how important being active is for physical and mental health. So, we are all really excited that we will once again be able to give runners the opportunity to line up on the start line in our great city.”

Gerry Taylor, director of public health and integrated commissioning at Sunderland City Council, adds: “We welcome being able to plan for the return of events to our city, and particularly those that support individuals’ health and wellbeing.  We will be working closely with the event organisers to make sure that this event is as safe as it possibly can be for all involved, subject to the national guidance in place at the time allowing it to go ahead. This will include social distancing and other measures to keep everyone safe as well as making sure that the event complies with all national and local guidance at the time.”

To book a place on the Sunderland City Runs, visit www.sunderlandcity10k.com, and for the latest updates from the event follow @sunderland10k on Twitter and @sunderlandcityrun on Instagram. If anyone has any queries about a carried over entry, they should send them by email to info@eventsofthenorth.com, and the team will respond as soon as they can.