Liverpool 2009- nowhere to run?

I have just been on the runliverpool.org website and read a message from Alan Rothwell that leaves me very despondent indeed. It appears that with the total refusal of Liverpool City Council to support local runners in any way, we could actually lose our races and have no half marathon, no tunnel and no Santa Dash next year.  The cost of putting on these events is outstripping income and after this year's revised half marathon course, we were really hoping for a city centre finish in 2009.

How can a city as great as Liverpool tolerate this? If these events are allowed to cease, we will never get them back. London can manage to close it's roads for one day a year and the whole city has a party! We can't even get the neighbours on side. They complain that the route passes their houses and prevents them going to the tip for a few hours!

Get a grip, people. If you don't support Alan Rothwell and start campaigning to keep your running calender, they'll be no point complaining when it's too late....

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Comments

  • same thing in leeds - the 1/2 marathon was cancelled for a 10k - but after all the local running clubs got together the half marathon is BACK ON - in Sept.

    What's happening to the big city marathons ? Both leeds and sheffield have gone by the way side - won't be long before nottingham vanishes.

  • image No if Nottingham stops as well I've have nothing to look forward to all year. Is there a on-line petition for Liverpool Council to get there act back together? Any why don't they see that these advents are good for the local economy because of people going into the city paying for the accommodation, food etc. image
  • That's precisely my point, Cake!

    I want to keep my local race calendar alive because if it dies then I will be forced to pay for hotel accomodation just to race and it all adds up. The GNR will wind up costing me well in excess of £200, because I have to travel, eat and sleep as well as run it!

    This is supposed to be Liverpool's showcase year. Capital of culture 2008, etc. Liverpool council couldn't even be arsed to listen to what the runners wanted and caved in immediately when a resident started a one man campaign to get the route taken away from his house. It is ONE MORNING out of 366 this year. Surely he could've had a lie in?

    Liverpool gets a lot of stick as it is. I was at Wilmslow half marathon a couple of weeks ago and a spectator commented that all the scousers will be out "robbing their houses" because all the Wilmslow folk were either running or supporting their race image I was astounded he thought it was OK to say that. Imagine if he'd made a comment about race or colour in a similar vein?

    If we want to fight obesity in our kids we need to set an example to them. There may well not be a petition to LCC yet, but I hope there's enough interest to start one.

  • I should probably learn how to spell calendar too....

    Honestly, I've got a bloody degree in English too and I can't get my thread title right.......image

  • LB - thats why you win at scrabulous - made up and misspelt? wordsimage.

    If Liverpool city council do not give their support then the races are doomed, they need local authority backing or their will be no road closures and we will have to do the races in the parks etc.

    I dont see what the problems are with the road closures anyway. With the total wuckfits that run the council having cocked up the whole of the city centre for the city of culture year with the extensive road works, what difference would closing a few roads for a couple of hours make.

  • Your go on Scrabulous JP! image (You big sore loser)!

    From what I gather, LCC would rather we all went away and ate chips and died early, in order to save the NHS the trouble of having to deal with us. If they cared one jot about people, they would back the RunLiverpool organisation.

    Alan Rothwell must be tearing his hair out. (Assuming he is not bald already)?

    He'll find this thread and no doubt have his say if he has anything to add.

    I agree about the city centre though. Looks a bloody mess.....

    Widnes is no better though! image

  • it would be tragic, lb

    i'm not local anymore but am obviously happy to write letters and sign petitions etc.

    is there anybody who might get in touch with all the local running clubs and gyms and try and co-ordinate some concerted lobbying of the council? 

  • From what I've seen with the way Sheffield council funked about with the marathon here i.e. changing the course making it a half only and then making themselves look good by putting it back to the original course. If they realise that it's going to upset lots of people who vote they get into gear and try and make it look like the whole thing is there idea. image

  • Liverbird check out the groveling on Leeds website after they tried to stop the half marathon. Leeds
  • That's pretty outrageous really if a city like Liverpool cannot manage a half decent event.

    Sounds to me like the council just cannot be bothered with the whole thing and would rather spend their time on other matters.

    The only thought that I had, was being home to arguably, (tin hat on,) the most successfull football club in the country, was "could something not be done in conjunction with one or both of the clubs? "

    Maybe something similar to the London north v south, you could have red versus blue for arguments sake?

  • Thats crap isnt it. Wonder if they will still be paying off the city of culture debt and thats where the money goes to ?
    Sometimes liverpool is its own worst enemy - how can they let their races fall away ? Morons.
  • To be fair to Liverpool City Council if they don't charge race organisers excessive fees for closing roads in order to bring more people into the city, where are they going to get their £1.7 million from to pay Paul McCartney to put on a concert.

    http://www.nme.com/news/paul-mccartney/35956

     I just wish people would see what an absolute farce this whole City of Culture nonsense is. They seem to be determined to create this vision of Liverpool having lots of events on, such as the remaining Beatles making their once-decadely trips to the city, and the Tate, MTV and BBC staging award shows which won't come back. And they're doing so at the expense of anything which either is part of Liverpool's culture (such as Quiggins) or which is eroding long-standing events in Liverpool, such as the Santa Dash.

    I'd like to see RunLiverpool turn their back on Liverpool for a year and move all their events over to the Wirral. If Liverpool don't want those events, why not move them to somewhere that does - and would be prepared to give runners the views of the Pierhead and Three Graces. 

  • top idea, wirral dave! it could follow the coastal path like the sponsored walk does- fabulous and varied scenery, could  be a winner.

    maybe it could be an out and back marathon with a half being the first half of the course. birkenhead, new brighton, west kirby, hoylake, thurstaston, parkgate - brilliant (as long as we all get an ice cream at parkgate!) and then there's the newly tarted up parks for the start/finish.

    i reckon it would get a lot of local support as well.

    *dreams* image

  • Then we could all go to Sir Paul's cottage on the Wirral for a cup of tea and ask him why he needs to be paid £1.7 million for a gig in his home city!

    Maybe he'll put his foot in it and say he doesn't give a crap, like Ringo did....

    Nice one Ringo!image

  • seems loyalty isn't always mutual

    he's a stingy bu@@er that paul 

  • According to that article - neither Macca or LFC are making any money out of the concert. So who the hell is ??

    I calculate that at a cost of £68 for every ticket. So someone there must have a nice little earner there ? Its not a Heather Mills Promotion is it ? image



  • how can he not be making a profit if he's being paid £1.7million, or is that dodgey reporting?

    still don't like him image

  • It is dodgy accounting, the money is paid to McCartney Productions Limited and not to him personally, the company will then pay various bills etc and any profits left (presumably in excess of £1million) will be distributed at a later date as dividends to shareholders.

    The reporting has stated that no profits will be made by McCartney or LFC. they will not be profits, the company will make the profit and pay him the dividends, clever choice of words. He is not doing this for Nothing.

  • no surprise there then
  • He has just lost £24 million pounds, remember. Perhaps he is trying to earn more dough so his daughter doesn't have to travel cattle class......image
  • what i loved about that is that she seemed to assume that she didn't have to contribute to daughter's running costs!
  • I know, RD - as if that "paltry" payout was her own personal lottery win and not maintenance for their child! image

    Silly cow.....

  • i just wonder why she thinks he should cover all the daughter's costs, surely they are both equally responsible for her - it's not like she's on minimum wage or something.
  • To be on minimum wage, don't you have to be in gainful employment?

  • swittleswittle ✭✭✭
    rubber duck - rofl at "daughter's runningcosts", although probably not deliberate

    i'm a woollyback of 14 years' residence, yet i feel a similar frustration to the one in this thread. Merseyside is alive with active, well attended running clubs - yet the City Council still takes dead-eye aim at whatever foot it's still able to stand on....and pulls the trigger - again. ;(
  • Makes her sound like a stately home or a car too!.....image

    My "running costs" have plummeted because Mr LB is in Boston and trainers there are dirt cheap compared to here! image

     I feel a shoe cull coming on.......

  • Part of the problem for LCC is that runliverpool aka L1310k have not staged the best of events and the citys running reputation is poor. The local running clubs stage events which are higher rated than the runliverpool events.

    For those that don't know Runliverppool or L1310K agreed to take over the running of all the LCC running events at the time these were a 2 10k's and a half marathon, all of which were run in the south end of the city to limit disruption. Runliverpool/L1310K promised high profile events and a city centre course but immediately mereged the 10k and half together so actually cut the number of events for the first 2 years that brought less runners to the city for the combined events than LCC had previously. Plus it was not possible to have the city centre start/finish they wanted due to the amount of building work ongoing at the time and still ongoing

    Runliverpool then struck a deal with FLM to stage a northern pre London race but FLM became disilliousined after only 2 years for what they saw as poor local management. There were numerous complaints by local residents over the road closures and FLM felt that they lacked the support to further their invovlment. At the time the city council rightly pointed out that the management of these races were nothing to do with them all they did was approve the course. So to many within the council LCC were held responsible for runliverpool faults.

    Runliverpool then suffered some further setbacks with having races cancelled at short notice the tunnel run for example because of making basic mistakes (not appyling for permits in time) Then the 2007 half had numerous issues from no 3 A's backing and lack of water stations and water. Further to this runliverpool tried to obtain permission for a city centre course knowing full well of the extensive  building work meant it was not possible and that they would not get the required support of LCC and emergency services. Again harming the city reputation for running

    I disagree with LCC attempts to stop large scale running within the city  but can understand that they want to limit the disruption and think runliverpool should look away from staging city centre events.

    Also can i point out that apart from the runliverpool events there are a number of club events such as Croxteth Park 10k next weekend that take place in and around Merseyside through the year and there will never be as shortage of events waterloo 15k, crosby 10miler, penny lane 10k etc. 

  • I think what LCC fails to acknowledge is that a race within the city is NOT "disruption". Disruption is the farce that is the Strand /Wapping and the surrounding roads at the moment, although you can't make an omelette without breaking eggs....

    It should be viewed more as the city celebrating itself and the residents should take the opportunity to get out there and have a great day, as other cities across the land seem to do. Attempts to run a race with "Liverpool" in the title outside the city centre are taking away the pleasure and pride that local runners feel for their home patch and visiting runners get confused when they sign up for the Liverpool Half and never get near the Liver buildings or the Mersey. I take their point that they feel cheated, although i fully accept that this year the building work has made things impossible.

    Residents complaints are an unfortunate byproduct of running, but I personally don't see why it is such an enormous hassle to be inconvenienced for one day. I have friends who live very close to the Notting Hill Carnival. They go away for that weekend. Similarly, we have Creamfields close to us. Not everyone likes it, but it's going ahead and I'd hate for it to stop.

    I don't deny that Runliverpool has had it's problems and I was a fierce critic of the water fiasco last year, as i was one of the runners who had to run more than nine miles on a hot day with no water!

    That said, I firmly believe that without the backing and support of your local council, these things are doomed from day one and LCC do NOT support running in the city and appear to be actively discouraging it. If you know different I would be happy to be proved wrong.

  • OjomanOjoman ✭✭✭

    Hmmm with the local elections coming up very soon it may be a good time for people to air their views. However, the sceptic in me thinks it will make little difference. What party will take on the 'burden' of a minority activities which, given the odd road closure, will throw the lives of good Council Tax paying citizens into complete dissaray?


    Cougie is right though, Liverpool, or more pricisely, the people of Liverpool, can be their own worst enemies. Instead of moaning, action needs to be taken.

    I have enjoyed RunLiverpool's evens while remaining blissfully unaware of the politics behind it all as they do not interest me. However, I love to run and if that is in Liverpool then all the better. Why should I travel to Manchester or further afield to enjoy a race? The Liverpool half this year was excellent , despite the route not taking into account the historical centre of the city. It has to stay.

    After reading a bit of Alan Rothwell's comments about pricing, it may not be too much of a problem to raise the costs a little and maybe run some sort of concessionary scheme. Although the logistics of this may be huge.

    Anyhow, I will stop ranting.

  • http://www.runliverpool.org.uk/Talking_Point.htm

    It would appear, people..... that we are too late.

    I'm sure it's no loss to those who want to go the tip on Sunday mornings. They will get their way.

    Tragic. For the city and the runners of Liverpool.

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