HEADMASTERS NOTICE ABOUT THE 2017 WILSON RUN

Dear Parents, Pupils, Old Sedberghians, Colleagues and Friends

We all look forward to the Wilson Run and this year we have a record number of qualifiers who have worked hard to complete the course in the required time. 

At the same time, we are always conscious that our pupils are running across exposed country where they may be subject to extreme weather and that they must cross a number of small rivers and ghylls which can rise and fall with localised rainfall.

During the last 48 hours we have experienced high levels of rainfall which has led to several of the river crossings on the route of the race course becoming impassable.  The weather forecasts are uncertain and include further rain, dry spells, light snow and even thunder during the next 24 hours. 

We have already explored a variety of deviations from the race course to enable our runners to race and we will review these again this afternoon (Monday 20 March) and, if necessary, again on Tuesday morning.

Our highest priority must always be the safety of our pupils and we will not start the race if we feel that this is compromised, although it goes without saying that we will do all that we can to enable the race to happen.  

In the event that we are unable to race tomorrow, we will explore options to race it on a different day.  We will issue a final decision no later than 11.00am tomorrow, Tuesday 21 March and will publish it by email, twitter and through our websites. 

I am sorry to raise this uncertainty on the eve of this iconic event and trust you will understand the importance of this decision.

Alongside this notice about the race, we advise those who plan to walk or run the route early on Tuesday that it is currently unsafe.  Anyone who chooses to do so should not place themselves at risk by crossing swollen rivers; even shallow fast-flowing water can be dangerous. 

With best wishes.

Yours sincerely

Andrew Fleck