Hundreds join The P&J Run Fest to raise money for good causes

April 16, 2024

Runners ranging in age from 3 to 73 took to the streets of Aberdeen at the weekend for the first ever P&J Run Fest, bringing together a community of runners to raise money for the fund set up to celebrate The P&J’s 275th anniversary.

The event saw almost a thousand people signed up for three separate races: 10k, 5k and a 1k junior fun run, all starting and finishing at The P&J Live concourse in Aberdeen.

Money raised will help several local charities including Friends of Anchor, Munlochy Animal Aid, Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance, Save Bon Accord Baths and SurfABLE Scotland who earlier this year each received an initial £10,000 donation from The P&J 275 Community Fund.

Staged in association with Balmoral Group, The P&J Run Fest saw individuals, running clubs, families, as well as teams from local businesses covering a combined distance of 7,640km, the distance from Aberdeen to Shanghai.

A total of 45 volunteers helped keep the event running, including DC Thomson colleagues and cadets from the Westhill 875 Squadron.

Amongst the runners was P&J editor Craig Walker (pictured) who completed the 5k race. He said: “We’ve been organising this for months and to see it come to life at the weekend with hundreds of runners taking part was phenomenal. The spirit of everyone there was incredibly energising and a huge boost to someone who could barely run five metres at the start of the year, let alone run 5k. It was fantastic to be part of this and join hundreds of people from all ages coming together to stretch themselves and raise money for some amazing charities.”