The Most Yorkshire Sport Ever Invented - Coal Carrying World Championships

Like so many of Britain's most cherished traditions, the World Coal Carrying Championship began not in a boardroom, a sporting arena, or even a village hall, but in a pub. Indeed, if one were to compile a list of all the unusual activities invented after someone in a British pub uttered the words, "I reckon I could do that," the resulting catalogue would be considerably longer than most encyclopaedias. The story begins in 1963 at a public house in Gawthorpe, a small Yorkshire village with a healthy appreciation for both coal and stubbornness. One patron remarked to another that he appeared to be carrying a little more weight than was ideal. The recipient of this observation, rather than taking offence in the modern fashion, challenged his critic to a race while carrying a sack of coal. As solutions to fitness concerns go, it was certainly memorable. And thus, over a pint and a bruised ego, a world championship was born. More than sixty years later, competitors still descend upon Gawthorpe from across Britain and beyond to take part in what may be the only sporting event in the world that requires participants to sprint uphill carrying what amounts to a small household appliance on their shoulders. The course itself is deceptively simple: three-quarters of a mile, or roughly 1,100 metres, almost entirely uphill. Men carry a sack of coal weighing 50 kilograms. Women carry 20 kilograms, which is still substantially heavier than anything sensible people would voluntarily run with. The action begins outside the Royal Oak pub, because naturally it does. There is something wonderfully British about a world championship that starts where many of its competitors first learned about it. Although the local coal mines disappeared years ago, enthusiasm for hauling large quantities of coal around the village remains remarkably strong. On race day, athletes of every conceivable shape and size gather at the starting line. Some look lean and purposeful, as though they have spent months training in mountain ranges. Others appear to have prepared by thinking about the event occasionally while watching television. Yet all possess the same admirable determination. The men's title went to Craig Heppinstall, who secured his first championship in a remarkable time of 4 minutes and 42 seconds. This means he managed to carry 50 kilograms of coal uphill faster than many people can walk to the corner shop carrying nothing at all. And perhaps that is the enduring appeal of the event. In an age of sophisticated technology, performance analytics and sports science, there is something wonderfully refreshing about a competition that can be summarised as follows: Take a heavy sack of coal. Run uphill. Try not to collapse. The fact that hundreds of people continue to do exactly that every year suggests that Britain remains, thankfully, as gloriously eccentric as ever. #coal #coalmining #yorkshire #running #runningrace