Hundreds brave the wind as Race for Life returns to Hartlepool for 2021

A sea of pink flooded the town on Sunday as over 250 runners set off from Coronation Drive on the promenade for Hartlepool Race for Life in aid of Cancer Research UK.

The event was cancelled last year due to the pandemic with supporters invited to hold their own run at home instead.

Vikki Lambert, Cancer Research UK’s Hartlepool event manager, has said the atmosphere was “brilliant” despite the windy weather.

She said: "It feels so nice to be back.

"There were a lot of groups this year. They were all dressed up in multicoloured tutus. They had branded tops done in memory of the person that they were completing the Race for Life for.

"It’s been a brilliant atmosphere as they were crossing the finish line and seeing them either finish all together and hold hands as they cross the finish or whether they’re all crowded around the finish waiting for the all of the different people to finish – it’s just so good to be back, especially after last year.”

Some social distancing measures were in place during the 5k run to make it as Covid safe as possible.

In the build up to the race, an emotional montage of people saying why they’re taking part was shown, followed by the set off of a confetti canon.

Vikki said: “It’s such an uplifting moment.”

She continued: "It was very windy, but the atmosphere was still there.

"They set off in a nice, big group, so it’s always nice to see that sea of pink set off.

Vikki added: "Thank you to all the participants who did come out.

"It is tough, we are still in the middle of Covid, we are still not back to normal, so for those 250 that made the effort, came out, battled through the wind – thank you to them and we’ll see them again bigger and better next year.”

More than £6.6million has been raised so far from races across the country.

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