It is almost 40 years since the first ever JCB Lakeside 5 and Fun Run was staged – and now it is back after a two year pause due to Covid on Thursday, July 14th.
And firing the starting pistol for the two races will be JCB-sponsored athlete Ben Williams who is preparing to compete in the triple jump event as part of the England athletics squad at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in August.
Over the four decades the races have been staged, they have raised thousands of pounds for JCB’s nominated charity, the NSPCC, for its work in Staffordshire. And as the organisers prepare for the 37th annual running of the event, one thing remains unchanged – two runners who have competed in every race since it began will again be on the starting line. Stalwarts Charles Bevan, 75, of Abbots Bromley, one of the event’s founders, and Mick Grindey, 60, of Uttoxeter – both former JCB employees – took part in the first event in 1983.