THE organiser of the annual HellRunner race at Delamere Forest is ‘confident’ there will be no repeat of last year’s traffic chaos which nearly put this weekend’s event in jeopardy.
Insufficient parking caused the road network to become gridlocked last year as 3,000 participants arrived to tackle the gruelling 11-mile multi-terrain course.
The Forestry Commission apologised for the problems and admitted it may not be ‘viable’ to host the event again due to the costs of clearing up afterwards and loss of earnings from general visitors.
However race director Paul Magner, whose company TrailPlus Ltd organises the £30 per head ‘Hell up North’ event, has put plans in place to make this year’s event run smoothly.
It includes having a race on Saturday and Sunday, both starting at 10.30am, rather than splitting them into morning and afternoon races on one day.
Free parking will also be provided this year on an old, hard-standing quarry area opposite Delamere Station.
Mr Magner said: “There was a problem last year, it shouldn’t have happened and it caused a lot of aggravation.
“But plans this year have addressed that. There are two far smaller events taking place so the sheer volume of runners, spectators and vehicles has been vastly reduced.
“And we’ve secured parking on the disused quarry opposite the station. Essentially the problem won’t happen again.”
The HellRunner event at Delamere is usually held in November but has been brought forward this year so weather conditions are better for parking.
Mr Magner says they are expecting about 1,100 competitors for Saturday’s race and 700 on the Sunday.
There will be no entries allowed on the day of the races.
For more information, visit www.hellrunner.co.uk/hell-up-north.
