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With plenty of prizes on offer at this year’s Chariots of Fire charity relay race, runners will have a great incentive to battle it out for the top spots in a variety of categories.

Based on the famous film that celebrated the exploits of the 1924 British Olympic team, the event recreates the running course through Cambridge and now involves two and a half thousand runners.

From all male, all female and mixed, to college and veteran team categories, there is no shortage of options for runners to choose from. This year sees the advent of a new category, with the veterans team now split into veteran male and veteran female.

The fastest team in each category will receive a trophy to hold onto for the entire year, with their team name and race timing printed in the paper and event website the day after the event and possibly even their photograph!

Another addition to the prizes this year is The Red Balloon charity cup for the fastest charity team, donated by one of last year’s supported charities.

Charles Hewitson from event sponsors Hewitsons said, “As Chariots has grown into such an iconic event in the local community, it is a real honour for teams to be named the winner of a category. Many runners attach a real sense of achievement to giving the race their best shot in an attempt to win, especially for the overall fastest team who will receive the coveted Sir Arthur Marshall trophy.”

“There is also a fun side to the event, as the team who provides the most laughter and entertainment for the crowds on the day is awarded the People’s Cup. In the past this has involved teams running in costumes of all different kinds!”

All this is in aid of local mental health charity Cam-mind. The charity’s development manager Aly Anderson said, “Mental health problems can happen to anyone and will affect 1 in 4 people in this region at some point in their lives. Cam-mind’s services support people on their road to recovery from conditions such as anxiety, depression, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.  We offer a range of community-based projects, all designed to prevent isolation, provide social support and help re-build confidence.”

The race takes place this year on Sunday 20 September, starting from Queens’ Green in Cambridge. If you wish to enter teams into the race you can register teams online on the “Enter” page of the Chariots website. For further information contact Hazel Kraus at hazelkraus@hewitsons.com or call 01223 461155.

With Chariots of Fire just round the corner, winners of last year’s event, The Glassworks Healthclub, say it is not too late to start getting in shape for the race.

The Glassworks Healthclub is Cambridge’s only city centre health club, incorporating a gym with state of the art facilities and a health and beauty spa. Teams from the club have taken part in the charity relay race for the last four years and won it in a record 48 minutes and 25 seconds in 2008.

James Robertson, Manager of Glassworks said, “We are really looking forward to competing in this year’s event. A few months before the race takes place we have staff and members training together in the gym, which creates a wonderful sense of team spirit.”

“It is great to be part of such a fantastic event, with the hundreds of teams showing the fullest ranges of age, experience and ability that I can recall for what is, simply, a running race!  This is no doubt boosted enormously by the lure of helping charities out by raising sponsorship money.”

James has the following pearls of wisdom for this year’s budding runners:

• Firstly, get a pair of running specific trainers. Your 12 year old squash shoes will just not do, and won’t give you the support and cushioning that a running shoe will.
• Start gently. Start by running as far as you can and then walk when you feel too tired to keep going, repeat this, run/walk/run/walk  for a set amount of time and you find will find that the runs get longer as the walks get shorter. Use markers like lamps posts of trees to run/walk between to gauge your progress as you get fitter. You’ll be surprised how you improve in just a few weeks.
• Have rest days. Aim to run 3 days per week but certainly not on successive days. Vary your route and distance to keep it interesting. The Chariots of Fire course is 1.7 miles so no need to go too far!
• Warm down and stretch. A warm down could be a leisurely jog back home or even a walk, just to wind down the body and help you recover. Follow this by some gentle stretches.
• If it hurts – stop. Don’t be tempted to run through an injury thinking it will do you good. Stop, and seek medical advice as you may make it worse. And come the 20th of September, you don’t want to be watching from the sidelines with a nice cup of tea as everyone gears up to run… Do you? Of course you don’t!!
• Taper down & prepare. Don’t run at least 48 hours before the event.  This gives your body time to rest and recover. And, keep hydrated by drinking water, little and often over the 24 before the event.
• Have fun. There will be some serious runners out there, but most of us just want to give it a go and that is what makes this day such a success.

The race takes place on Sunday 20 September, starting from Queens’ Green in Cambridge, with teams of six running the scenic course in relay format through the city centre and Kings, Clare and Trinity colleges.

Charles Hewitson, race director and senior partner at sponsors Hewitsons added, “All the effort runners put into training for and running in the race will not be in vain, as teams will be raising money to fund the vital work of a fantastic local charity, Cam-mind, which reaches out to those experiencing a wide range of mental health problems in the region.”

To register your teams for the event, visit the Enter page of the website. Please contact Hazel Kraus for further details at hazelkraus@hewitsons.com or on 01223 461155.

Photo: Glassworks Gym staff
Back row: Matthew Bell (Fitness Instructor)
Front row left to right: James Robertson (Manager), Alex Carlow (Personal Trainer)

This year, Cambridge’s premier charity event, Chariots of Fire, will be looking to raise a record amount of sponsorship to support people experiencing mental health problems.

The race is based on the celebrated film and will see 2500 runners pounding through the city centre and Kings, Clare and Trinity colleges to battle it out for a variety of coveted trophies.

The Herculean effort of the Chariots teams this year will be in aid of Cam-mind, Cambrige’s longest established mental health charity. Leading law firm Hewitsons, organisers of the race, are hoping to top the £70,000 raised last year.

Cam-mind offers a wide range of community projects and services to support mental health service users in Cambridgeshire, designed to empower people to resume an active life within the community and to challenge the prejudices and misunderstandings that undermine recovery from mental health problems.

Aly Anderson, the charity’s Development Manager said, “At least one in four people in this region will experience a mental health problem at some point in their lives and the current economic downturn means that the numbers of people affected will increase.”

 “We are therefore hoping the Chariots teams can raise plenty of sponsorship money to help fund the expansion of our one-to-one befriending scheme and the launch of our pioneering new workplace training/wellbeing project, designed to help local employers tackle stress, anxiety and depression in the workplace.”

“We know we can make a huge difference to people’s lives but need the help and support from fundraising activities such as Chariots to enable us to do this vital work.”

Charles Hewitson, senior partner at Hewitsons added, “Since 1992 the event has raised over £800,000 for different charities and over the years we have seen the positive impact sponsorship can make.”

He continued, “With 420 teams expected to enter the race this year, if every team raised just £250 it would make a grand total of £105,000 for the charity! That would only be around £40 per team member to raise!”

The race takes place on Sunday 20 September, starting from Queens’ Green at 9.30am. It is run in relay format with 6 team members each running a leg. If you would like to enter a team, register online on the website. For further information call Hazel Kraus at 01223 461155.