The Long Course Weekend will take place in the county next month, the first time that the internationally recognised multi-sport event has been staged in England.
The event 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.
It is hoped that the sporting competition 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 leader, Cllr Carl Les, said: “We are delighted to be hosting the Long Course Weekend, which has grown a reputation around the world as being an extremely successful sporting event.
“We know how important the visitor economy is in North Yorkshire, especially in areas such as the Yorkshire Dales.
“The Long Course Weekend will give us the opportunity to showcase Masham and North Yorkshire to thousands of people who will be visiting, bringing a welcome economic boost for local businesses.”
Business owners in Masham have spoken of how they believe the sporting event will be a major showcase for the area.
Richard Welford is the owner of the family-run Beavers Butchers on Silver Street in the town.
He said: “It’s a real privilege for us to be hosting the Long Course Weekend, and it will bring so many people to the area. It is not just about the weekend, though, as we know people will come back. This has happened before when people have said they loved the area while visiting and decided to book another stay. The organisers have engaged with the local community and have held meetings in the Town Hall to answer any questions people may have. I am really looking forward to it, and I am sure we will be able to show Masham and North Yorkshire in the best light possible.”
The Long Course Weekend will be held in Masham from Friday, September 6, to Sunday, September 8.
It is one of only a few sporting events that encompasses swimmers, cyclists, runners and triathletes of all abilities over one weekend. Competitors have the choice to participate in one of the individual disciplines or choose all three to take part in the competition.
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 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.
Lucy Scott Paul, who runs the Bordar House Teas café with her mother, Catherine, on Masham’s Market Place, has also claimed the arrival of the Long Course Weekend in North Yorkshire will be a welcome boost to the local economy.
She said: “We are really excited, and it will be great for the local community as well as businesses based here to have such a high-profile event centred on the town. We will be opening early at 6am and intend to stay open into the evening to make the most of having so many people here in Masham. It will be a wonderful showcase for the Yorkshire Dales, and we have seen the effect of having other major sporting events here. When the Tour de France was held in Yorkshire in 2014, we had so many visitors afterwards who said they had seen places like Masham and wanted to come and see them for themselves.”
The Long Course Weekend is the largest annual multi-sport event in Wales and attracts 11,000 competitors from 56 countries. Up to 33,000 people travel to support the competitors, bringing the total audience to 44,000 people for the event.
The Long Course Weekend’s founder and chief executive, Matthew Evans, said: “We are extremely excited to bring the Long Course Weekend to North Yorkshire, and we are hoping that all the local communities will embrace the opportunities it will bring.
“We have a proven track record of staging these major events around the world, and it will help raise the profile of North Yorkshire even further and show what a wonderful place it is to live, work and visit.”
New figures released in July revealed that tourism contributed more than £4 billion to North Yorkshire’s visitor economy last year, attracting in excess of 31 million people to the county.
The data also highlighted how the local tourism industry supports 38,486 jobs through direct and indirect employment making up 13 per cent of all employment across North Yorkshire.
Be the first to comment