Runners on their marks for new Porthcawl 10k
Poster information
Posted on: Tuesday 23 October 2018
A major new 10k run in Porthcawl is expected to attract thousands of runners from across the UK.
Cabinet Members from Bridgend County Borough Council have today given their backing for the local authority to team up with Run4Wales to organise the first Porthcawl 10k next year on a date yet to be confirmed.
Further events have also been pencilled in for 2020 and 2021, and if all goes well then it could become a fixture on the local events calendar.
Run4Wales is a social enterprise that has already delivered a series of high profile events in Wales including the Velothon and the Cardiff Half Marathon.
The Porthcawl event would be the newest addition to their Run4Wales 10k series which includes their 10k events in Cardiff Bay, Barry Island and Newport.
Bridgend County Borough Council views the new event as a big boost for tourism and wellbeing.
Hot on the heels of the Senior Open Golf Championship and the Urdd Eisteddfod we are really keen to host more events that can raise the profile of Bridgend County Borough and attract new visitors.
The success of the first Barry Island 10k in August has shown us the potential for Porthcawl. Around 3,500 runners signed up for that event from all corners of the country. The route showed off some of the resort’s most scenic spots while they also held a one mile family run and a toddler dash.
As well as generating a lift for local tourism, events of this nature also bring with them a fantastic feel-good factor, with runners raising money for numerous good causes. Porthcawl already has an extremely popular Parkrun every weekend, as does Maesteg, while there are many well-supported running groups, so I’m sure that the local community will get right behind the new Porthcawl 10k and the excellent health and wellbeing opportunities it presents. We’re looking forward to working with Run4Wales to establish another exciting event for Bridgend County Borough!
Councillor Charles Smith, Cabinet Member for Education and Regeneration
Run 4 Wales Chief Executive Matt Newman said, “We’re delighted to announce the Porthcawl 10k in partnership with Bridgend County Borough Council. As well as boosting the local economy, the event will make a significant contribution to the health and wellbeing of the local community and we look forward to opening the event for registrations in the next few weeks.”
Over the last five years, there has been a steady increase in the economic impact of tourism in Bridgend County Borough.
According to the Scarborough Tourism Economic Activity Model (STEAM) data, tourism injected £344.23m into the Bridgend County Borough economy in 2017 compared to £289.86m in 2013.
Visitor numbers are up from 3.55m in 2013 to 3.92m in 2017, while the number of visitor days has increased from 5.26m in 2013 to 5.76m in 2017. Tourism currently supports around 4,300 jobs in Bridgend County Borough.