Durham City Run Festival falls victim to COVID-19

Organisers of the Durham City Run Festival have announced this year’s event has been cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The festival had initially been postponed from July until October, but after extensive discussions with Durham County Council, Durham University and other event partners, Events of the North has confirmed that the Prince Bishops Durham City 5K and 10K, Run Like a Legend Mile, Paula’s Families on Track and other festival features will now not take place in 2020.

In April, Events of the North, Durham County Council and Durham University made an early decision to postpone the Durham City Run Festival and agreed a new date in October, subject to circumstances allowing the rearranged event to go ahead. Meanwhile, a successful virtual festival was held in July, raising funds for charity partner St Cuthbert’s Hospice.

Since announcing the postponement, event partners have been closely monitoring the ongoing situation with regard to the COVID-19 restrictions.

They have now concluded that, in the context of the latest guidelines from the Government and Public Health England, it will not be possible to safely deliver a mass participation races in October. Organisers will now start planning for a full return in 2021.

Event founder Steve Cram said: “We are really sorry to have to take another difficult decision and cancel the rearranged Durham City Run Festival.

"Although the gradual return of some activities gave us hope, there is still too much uncertainty around mass participation events to enable us to be 100% confident that we can deliver a safe event.”