COMPETITORS from across the country are expected to descend on North Yorkshire next year with the launch of a major sporting event aiming to boost the county’s vital visitor economy.
The Long Course Weekend will be hosted by North Yorkshire Council in September next year, the first time that the internationally recognised multi-sport event has been staged in England.
It is hoped that the event, which is based on the principles of the triathlon but is tailored to open up the three disciplines of swimming, cycling and running to as wide an audience as possible, will bring in as much as £2 million to North Yorkshire’s economy and will attract thousands of competitors and visitors.
North Yorkshire Council’s executive member for open to business, councillor Derek Bastiman, whose portfolio includes the visitor economy, said: “To host such a well-respected and internationally-renowned sporting event is a real coup for us.
“The Long Course Weekend has become a very popular date in the sporting calendar in countries across the world and it will be a privilege for North Yorkshire to host an event next year. It will give us the chance to showcase to a global audience what we can offer here in what is one of the most beautiful and diverse parts of the country.
“We are already looking forward to welcoming all the competitors and their friends and family across the three days of the Long Course Weekend and I am sure that this will be the first of many extremely successful events.”
The swim distances range from 1.2 miles to 2.4 miles, cycling routes will be from 56 miles to 112 miles and the run will start at five kilometres to a full marathon. There will also be a children’s running event to encourage all members of the family to get involved.
The exact course has yet to be finalised, but the event will be staged from Friday, September 6 to Sunday, September 8 next year and will be centred on Pateley Bridge and Nidderdale. Applications for competitors are due to be opened later this year.
The event was established in Wales in 2010 and now has annual competitions taking place across the globe including in Holland, Belgium, Mallorca, Australia and New Zealand.
The Long Course Weekend’s founder and chief executive, Matthew Evans, said: “The Long Course Weekend has grown from strength to strength since we first staged it back in 2010 and it really has become a global brand.
“We have wanted to bring the Long Course Weekend to England for a long time now and North Yorkshire is the perfect location as the county has a proven track record of staging major sporting events, such as the Tour de France’s Grand Départ."
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