Four times Paralympic gold medallist, Ellie Simmonds, OBE, is to be the honorary starter at this year’s Bupa Great Birmingham Run.
Simmonds, who has won a total of six swimming medals in the Beijing and London Paralympic games, plus a further 19 World and European Championship medals, will set the 20,000 runners on their way on Sunday 20th October.
The athlete, who was born locally in Walsall and first began her training at Birmingham-based Boldmere Swimming Club, was also named BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year in 2008, before being appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2013 New Year’s Honours for her services to Paralympic sport.
Ellie said: “It’s going to be wonderful starting the Bupa Great Birmingham Run and watching 20,000 set off. There’s already a buzz in Birmingham about the event and I’m sure the atmosphere on the day will be fantastic.”
David Hart, communications director at Nova International, organisers of the Bupa Great Birmingham Run, added: “We are delighted that Ellie has agreed to be our honorary starter; she is a true inspiration to so many people, and we are sure that her big smile will provide a timely boost to participants at the start of their half marathon.”
This year will also see the introduction of two children’s running categories, the Bupa Junior Great Run for children aged 9-15 with a distance of 2.5km and the 1.5km Bupa Mini Great Run for those aged 3-8.
There are a limited number of places available for all events at www.greatrun.org/birmingham
