Massive disappointment as Fakenham cycling races cancelled
Following some questions regarding the previous press release (below), I m writing to make clear that a major event will be taking place in Fakenham Town Centre on Easter Sunday 20th April 2025. Specific clarifications are;
It didn’t fail the risk assessment. We have had satisfactory risk assessment with British Cycling for ten years. What it did was introduce new requirements that we are unable to satisfy in the short timeframe.
The Easter Sunday Festival will still go ahead on Easter Sunday but without the cycling and with extra effort and resources put into the Easter Sunday Funday Runs. It will take place on the same course around Fakenham town centre on closed roads. This has been a very enjoyable series of runs and has included everyone from top club runners to people who almost walk. The focus is on fun and fitness.
I hope this clarifies the situation. We are stressing that the event will still go ahead and that people should book in advance and we may have spaces on the day for all races.
https://www.activefakenham.org.uk/2025-easter-sunday-funday
Fakenham’s Easter Sunday Criterium cycle races have had to be cancelled for 2025, but the good news is that the Easter Sunday Running races for all ages and abilities will go ahead and be bigger and better than ever.
Richard Crook, from Active Fakenham which organises the event said,
We are bitterly disappointed that we have had to cancel these exciting and popular races. The event has been taking place annually since 2016 and is very popular with locals and visitors – it’s a high-profile event for Fakenham. However, we are pleased that we will still be running the 5K running races for all abilities, the 1K Fun run for all ages, where the children will each receive a drawstring bag, Easter goodies and a medal and also our popular Toddle n Trike for the under 5-year-olds.
We have run these very successful Easter Sunday races with no serious issues or accidents for ten years. They are complex and expensive events for a small group of volunteers but we have been very proud of how we were able to bring top class cycle racing to Fakenham. Safety has been a top priority and we have risk assessed the course in partnership with British Cycling, local riders and Active Fakenham officials. We worked with the Local Authorities, the police, ambulance services and first aiders, bus services and many local traders to offer a high-quality event. We have around seventy volunteers on the day who are invaluable to making it a success.
Richard Crook added, Over the years We have managed to fund raise to acquire enough equipment to bring down ongoing costs. This year we have already laid out quite a lot of money, printed publicity and spent a lot of time and energy on this event. We were a bit shocked when British Cycling sent a risk assessor from their Head office to assess the course only a few weeks before the 2025 races were due to take place. We had worked on the assumption that our previously acceptable risk assessments undertaken in partnership with British Cycling would be rolled on for this year with some updates as has happened in previous years. As it turned out the Head office Risk Assessor demanded huge changes. These included, mending the roads, more than doubling the number of crowd control barriers, doubling the number of volunteers, covering lampposts and other possible obstacles adjacent to the course and closing off both sides of the roads round the entire course. As well as the logistical challenges we estimate the additional cost would be around £4,000. We have tried hard to see if we can still run the event but it seems impossible for this year. We plan to review the situation later in the year to see what is possible for next year.
We are still excited to be running what we are now calling the Easter Festival of Running which will take place on Easter Sunday, 20th April, from 9.30am until 1.30pm. There will be races, stalls and food. The event is run in the Fakenham town centre and there is free parking. Booking is now open online through the Active Fakenham website.
The Easter Sunday Festival is one of five low cost and accessible festivals Active Fakenham is running in 2025. These include a Riverside Festival, duck and raft races, an Arts Festival, a Film Festival and competition and a non-competitive Cycling Festival. We are also working on a series of partnerships to bring other activities such as the hat Walk and various other sessions through the year. We have just completed the new Fakenham Town Guide which will be distributed in March and April.
More information. richard@activefakenham.org.uk
Richard Crook 07887 803091
3 March 2025
