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6000 runners expected to descend on Derby and Nottingham for worlds first Kilomathon

21 January 2010

The Kilomathon is a new race distance of 26.2 kilometres (16.3 miles), which organisers say is the perfect race distance for anyone who is training for a marathon and an ideal stepping stone from the half-marathon distance.

Entrants have so far signed up from as far north as the Shetland Islands and as far south as Cornwall as well as from the Nottingham and Derby area, and runners will also be coming from Europe, Asia and America to take part.

Geoff Sims, Chief Executive of GSi Events, came up with the idea of the Kilomathon because so many people who run a marathon say “It’s the last 10 miles that are the hardest” or “I hit the wall”. Geoff then came up with the idea of running 26.2 kilometres, which equates to 16.3 miles, instead of the marathon distance of 26.2 miles.

Entries for the Kilomathon close on February 17 and there is a £5 discount available for local residents to encourage more local participation.

There are currently more entrants from the Nottingham area than Derby area. Visit www.kilomathon.com (opens in a new window) for more information.

The world's first Kilomathon starts close to Nottingham University and runs through Beeston, Chilwell, Long Eaton, Draycott, Borrowash and Elvaston Castle Country Park. From there the route goes through Alvaston before finishing in Alvaston Park in Derby.

Double Olympian Liz Yelling said: “The Kilomathon will be an exciting new fixture on the UK running calendar. This innovative event will be a new target distance for lots of runners, from experienced looking to develop their performance or runners looking for a different challenge.”