Famed Chariots Beach Race Returns

The famous St Andrews Chariots Beach Race returns this June after two years of absence due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 5km race is inspired by the classic scene from the 1981 film Chariots of Fire and will take place on 6 June, 2022. The race is also expected to host between 800 and 1000 run- ners, and spots are predicted to be in high demand as this is the tenth anniversary of this historic event.

There is also a concurrent children’s race with a distance of one mile, open to participants who are under the age of 11.

Organizer Ben McLeod said, “There’s a huge interest in the event. I’ve had lots of enquir- ies on Facebook and other social media asking what’s happening, whether the race is going ahead and when entries will be opening.

"It has taken a bit longer than we would have liked to resurrect the race but we’re getting there.

“Fife Council, the Links Trust and FCCT have approved our event application, and we’re busy finalising other details.

“We’ve also had a few gremlins creeping into the online entry system, so we want to make sure that’s working properly before going live. Once we launch, we expect entries to get very busy, very quickly – the last time we sold out in just four weeks.”

The Chariots Beach Race also features some high profile sponsors. This year, they added St Andrews Brewing Company to their list, and Fisher and Donaldson have confirmed that they will be returning to supply each runner with a fudge donut after they’ve finished the race.

The Chariots Beach race is also a charity event, raising money for the RNLI, Families First St Andrews, and Home Start North East Fife.

Families First is a charity which works with young people and their families to provide support for those in rural north east Fife.

Home Start is a charity designed to offer support to families with young childen.

The latter two are St Andrews charities specifically. Proceeds from the children’s race are slated to be donated to the Hamish Foundation, which is also based in St Andrews.

Image: Abigail Mason