A charity lunch with an Olympic Gold Medallist and races over 10k, half marathon and marathon bookend 10 days of events for the annual Our Bury St Edmunds Festival of Sports next month.
The Sports Aid lunch at the Athenaeum features Lizzy Yarnold, the double gold medallist skeleton racer at the Winter Olympics, while the HaverSports St Eds Running Festival ends the event.
Charter Square will be the focus for many taster sessions during the week and will also host an evening 5k fun run around the town.
And sports enthusiasts and those who would like to start a new activity are being encouraged to register their interest and have activities listed on the Festival’s website at no cost.
As with last year’s event the Festival, which runs from October 19 to 28, is extending its boundaries to include the villages around Bury St Edmunds.
It will focus on local sports clubs or groups and include free taster sessions for people looking to try a new activity. The event has previously helped Bury to win Suffolk’s Most Active Town award.
Our Bury St Edmunds chief executive Mark Cordell said: “The Festival of Sport has grown into a fantastic event that offers something for all abilities in a wide variety of sports. But it’s not just about Olympic Golds and marathons – it’s a real grass roots festival. Taster sessions for beginners could be the first steps for our gold medallists of the future.
“As with last year, we want to include the villages just outside Bury too, so if you have sporting or exercise based activities during the half term week that people can get involved with either as participants, volunteers or spectators then please let us know and we’ll include them in our listings.”
He added: “We want to feature as many different sports and groups as possible and at the same time hopefully encourage more people to sign up to these activities.
“We don’t expect everyone to bring their activity into the town centre, because for some, such as water based sports, that wouldn’t be possible anyway. We will, however, promote the events of all sports clubs and tuition centres during the Festival, so please do get in touch.”
The Our Bury St Edmunds Festival of Sport is promoted by a partnership led by the Business Improvement District (BID) organisation Our Bury St Edmunds and including Abbeycroft Leisure and St Edmundsbury Borough and Suffolk County Councils.
For more information visit www.ourburystedmunds.com/festivalofsport
If you are involved with a sports club or group and wish to include your event in the festival contact Our Bury St Edmunds on 01284 766258.
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