Marathon heralds new sporting chapter for Yorkshire

Rebecca and her father, Mike Tomlinson, will be taking part in a major new sporting event for Yorkshire, which will see thousands of runners pounding a 26.2-mile course around the streets of York and the surrounding beautiful countryside to raise money for the Jane Tomlinson Appeal and other charities.

It is hoped the first ever Plusnet Yorkshire Marathon, which is being launched today, will become a major event in the UK’s sporting calender attracting runners keen to push themselves to the absolute limit on a course that is both flat and fast and also welcome those wanting to do their first marathon inspired by Jane Tomlinson’s courage.

Rebecca, 24, who will be taking part in the race on October 20, did the London marathon alongside her father the year after her mother died. It was her first and was destined not to be her last.

“I think one of the reasons why I did the marathon the first time was because I wanted to see how much mum had to push herself because obviously she did a lot more than a marathon with cancer.

“She was doing training while on chemotherapy and it limits how much you can go training so its like having an injury.

“I would encourage people if they have not done a marathon and who think that they would not be able to do it, I would encourage them to think again and remember that a lot of people take on a marathon who may not necessarily be the fastest or the fittest.

“It does not matter how long you take because mum was not particularly fast in them because her times did vary quite a bit but it was the taking part and the end result that was the more significant.”

Jane, from Leeds, was diagnosed with incurable cancer in 2000. Despite her pain and illness she participated in a number of high profile endurance challenges to raise money for charity, including a number of marathons long-distance bike rides and triathlons.

Rebecca, who has competed in around six marathons, says her best time is 3 hours 35 minutes, while her mother’s time for a marathon tended to be over five hours.

Her father hopes that the event will become a flagship event for the appeal and it is expected to raise £500,000 for charities in its first year.

“Hopefully it can be an event that Yorkshire can be proud of,” he said.

“It’s taken a huge amount of planning but we think it will be really special. In York we have a city with amazingly spectacular scenery, but one that is also extremely flat which should make for a really fast course.

“We launched the Leeds 10K seven years ago now and we’ve been thinking for a long time about putting on a long distance event in Yorkshire - and this is it!”

Sheffield-based phone and broadband provider Plusnet are the marathon’s title sponsors and the event is being staged by a new organisation under the umbrella of Jane Tomlinson’s For All Events – which already runs the Leeds, York, Hull and Pennine-Lancashire 10Ks, as well as the Leeds Half Marathon.

For All Events – which comprises Run For All, Walk For All and Swim For All – was established by the Tomlinson family as a legacy to Jane, who raised almost £2m for charity by tackling a series of incredible endurance challenges.

It is hoped it will become a flagship event for the organisation and also build on Yorkshire’s impressive showing at last year’s Olympics, where athletes from the county won seven gold medals.

Double Paralympic gold medallist Hannah Cockroft, from Halifax, who is also supporting the event, said: “Last summer proved that Yorkshire was the best county for sport in Britain and now that Yorkshire has its very own marathon, people can come and share in the legacy that was created.”

The countdown to the event officially begins today when a host of famous Yorkshire faces will gather at York’s iconic Clifford’s Tower to welcome the marathon to their home county. They will celebrate the arrival of the event by making the ‘Y’ for ‘Yorkshire’, the new symbol of the marathon.

Mr Tomlinson added: “I know it will be extremely popular because there is still that great feeling of the Olympic legacy. Look at all Yorkshire achieved in the 2012 Games!

“There is no doubt that Yorkshire is exactly the place to launch a new marathon,” he added.

Runners can chose to raise funds for any cause of their choice or for one of the event’s partner charities. The Yorkshire Post is a media partner for the marathon.

To register for the event go to www.theyorkshiremarathon.com