ONE of the district's major sporting events has gone virtual to support a local NHS charity.

The Kielder Marathon, dubbed "Britain's most beautiful marathon", was cancelled last month due to the coronavirus crisis.

However, details have since been unveiled of a series of virtual events to be held on the same weekend the Active Northumberland event should have taken place.

Participants in the virtual races will have the opportunity to complete solo runs at distances from one mile to the full marathon between October 2 and October 4.

Each runner can earn themselves a special Kielder medal and tote bag, while a proportion of every entry fee will e donated to the Kielder Marathon's official charity partner, Bright Northumbria.

The charity supports hospital and community health facilities within Northumberland and North Tyneside.

The event will include full and half marathon distances, plus 10k and a special 'Run Like a Legend Mile."

Anyone who wants to take part can register online at kieldermarathon.com/virtual-event and, with the help of a special app, record and submit their best time for a solo run at any time.

The virtual Kielder marathon will be the fifth and final virtual race organised by Events of the North during the coronavirus crisis. Everyone who takes part in all of the races will be entered into a prize draw to win free entry into the 2021 events.

Steve Cram, Active Northumberland Kielder Marathon event founder and race director, comments: “We’re so disappointed that we can’t all meet up at Kielder this year for Britain’s most beautiful marathon and we can’t wait to return in 2021.

"This is certainly not how we intended or expected to hold events this year, but our virtual races have proved to be very popular.

"They have helped people to focus on objectives and not waste the hard work that they had already started putting into training for scheduled races.

"It won’t be the same as being at Kielder, but I am sure that runners will find some lovely local routes during their solo marathons, half marathons, 10Ks and miles, and help us to raise funds for Bright Northumbria, which really needs our support in these difficult times.”