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Bacchus to back The Drinks Trust

Organised by Graft Wine Company co-founder Nik Darlington (pictured) and consultant Ruth Spivey, the Relay is to take the place of the cancelled Run Bacchus half marathon that took place at Denbies Wine Estate last year and which raised over £7,000 for the trade charity.

This year’s Run Bacchus event had attracted a growing number of runners, but with Covid-19 interrupting proceedings, Darlington and Spivey said they felt it would be “a shame for an important fundraising opportunity to be missed”.

On the day, across various time zones, individuals and teams competing in the Bacchus Sunrise Relay will be competing over legs from 5km upwards, handing over the ‘virtual baton’ via WhatsApp, with a live leader board on Instagram charting people’s progress.

“Last year’s Run Bacchus was such a great occasion and there was an even bigger group wanting to take part in this year’s race, so it came as a huge disappointment, though not that surprising with everything going on, when the event was cancelled,” said Darlington.

“Ruth and I both ran in a virtual relay race during lockdown and thought we could organise something similar in place of this year’s Run Bacchus, give people in the trade something to cheer about, maybe get the competitive juices flowing between rival companies, and raise a bit of money for worthwhile causes.”

Runners will be encouraged to run via as many wineries, cellar doors and/or wine shops as possible, with prizes for visiting the most and things like the best running selfie.

A central fundraising page will be set up on JustGiving for donations to The Drinks Trust, though with people also welcome to raise money for other charitable causes.

To register for the virtual relay before 14 August, or for any other information, contact:

ruth@spivey.wine

nik@graftwine.co.uk

• Denbies
• charity
• wine trade
• Nik Darlington
• The Drinks Trust
• run
• Bacchus Sunrise Relay
• 50K
• Ruth Spivey