Six historic road races conferred heritage plaque

Six of the world’s oldest footraces have been awarded the Heritage Plaque by World Athletics.

The road races are Around the Bay Road Race, Hamilton, Ontario- founded 1894, YMCA Turkey Trot, Buffalo, New York – founded 1896, Bechovice 10k, Prague – founded 1897, Giro Podistico di Castelbuono, Castelbuono, Sicily – founded 1912, Kosice Peace Marathon, Kosice – founded 1924 and Fukuoka International Open Marathon Championship, Fukuoka – founded 1947.

These road races join a list of 54 other recipients which had previously been awarded the plaque since the honour was inaugurated on December 2, 2018.

The World Athletics Heritage Plaque is a location-based recognition, awarded for “an outstanding contribution to the worldwide history and development of the sport of track and field athletics and of out-of-stadia athletics disciplines such as cross country, mountain, road, trail and ultra-running, and race walking”.

“These six footraces represent some of the oldest sports events, let alone running races, in the world,” said World Athletics President Sebastian Coe.

“Together these races ooze athletics history. They represent what running is truly about: the record-breaking feats of the many great champions and the personal triumphs of the countless recreational and charity runners. We should also not forget the dedication and hard work of the officials and volunteers of the local clubs and organising committees which have kept these historic events on the roads for decades,” he added.

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