Runners and walkers wearing festive attire braved the cold to help propel event organisers over the £50,000 mark for a hospice charity.
The Festive Forest Challenge on Saturday, December 15, saw entrants run, walk or Nordic walk a distance of 10k, a half marathon or 20 miles through Thetford Forest, starting and finishing at West Stow Country Park.
Many got into the festive spirit of the event, in aid of St Nicholas Hospice Care, by wearing Christmas jumpers and Santa hats.
The challenge is organised by Positive Steps, a fitness and wellbeing company based in Bury St Edmunds, and - together with the Bury to Clare event - has now raised more than £50,000 for the hospice over six years.
Organiser Kevin Marshall, who owns Positive Steps, said this year’s Festive Forest Challenge, which saw 312 people take part, had generated £7,132 for the charity.
“It was absolutely fantastic despite it being bitterly cold,” he said. “To get over 300 people turn up on a day like yesterday [December 15] is quite an achievement. Organisers and volunteers were also working hard in extreme conditions.”
He said organising events like the Festive Forest Challenge were a “win-win” situation as “I wanted to combine offering somebody a challenge and supporting a good cause at the same time”.
Entries are now open for next year’s event at Thetford Forest. See here for more information.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here