By Jack Howes
June 4 2020, 12.35
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NHS staff will be thanked for their continued hard work during the coronavirus pandemic at the Richmond RUNFEST in October at Kew Gardens.
The event organisers have offered NHS heroes 1,000 free entries to the event. The theme for the event is the ‘Rainbow of Hope’.
Race director Tom Bedford said: “We were looking for a theme. With the negative things at the moment one of the positive things that has come out of it is what all the school children have been doing.
“It is a real sort of ray of hope to just hang in there and we’re all together. It gives us something to look forward to during these dark months. It will be very colourful on the day.
“We wanted to have a fun event and the atmosphere and also say a big thank you to the NHS.”
The AIR:RUN, which stands for ‘Audio Inspired Run’ will provide the runners with a ‘tour guide’ as they run around Kew Gardens.
The runners will participate in a 10.5km run and they are encouraged to be as colourful and bright as possible as they run in the gardens. There will also be a backdrop of rainbow inspired flags, banners and decorations.
The gesture has had a positive reaction with the event being the most shared event ever on their social media.
Mr Bedford said: “The nurses and NHS workers have more important things to be thinking about rather than a 10.5km run in October but this is a great start. This will be over at some point.”
As lockdown eases, hope and excitement will grow in the lead up to the event.
Richmond RUNFEST work with more than 25 charities. The main charity for the event is Children with Cancer. For more information about the day visit the website.
