UK ‘Wineathlons’ challenge runners to 10k race… and wine tasting

Six locations around the UK are set to host races this year with a special incentive to get competitors past the finishing line.

While runners will get water as usual as they make their way around the course, they will also have the chance to sample wine at stops dotted around the route.

Organisers of the “Wineathlons” say the events in Scotland, England and Wales are designed to “put the fun back into running”.

This year’s events will begin in Conwy in North Wales, at the end of August, moving to Cambridge, Worcester and Yorkshire in September.

“Wineathletes” in Glasgow will then get the chance to race through their city on September 24 before the season finishes in Durham on October 1.

It follows previous events held in Huddersfield and Worcester from 2014 onwards.

Event organisers say the course will be an “easy trail” with “feed stations every few miles, stocked with optional wine samples”.

Runners are invited to “run, walk or crawl” around the event, where each drink on offer will be based on a different wine region of the world.

In Glasgow, more than 200 people have already signed up for the event, which has a limit of 600 entrants.

That race will have three stops, dotted roughly two miles apart, where the wine available to sample will cost a minimum of £7.50 per bottle and will be available to purchase at the end of the race.

Organisers stress the wine is available for sampling purposes only, with a single sample of wine made available for each competitor. Taking more than one would mean someone else missing out.

Due to the availability of alcohol, no-one under the age of 18 is allowed to take part in the events, which also raise money for local charities.

Wane Law, managing director of organiser TeamOA, said: “The idea is just to put the fun back into running. It’s getting people out, crossing the finishing line.

“People have taken it on themselves, and it’s turned into an event rather than a race.”