This sadly is another race which has disappeared, in this case changing to a shorter course.

Races come and go for various reasons, lack of support, increased police costs, but one outside influence has been The Tour de France.

The Tour de France ?

Yes a cycle race in France has meant the demise of some Road Races in England most notably, for B.S. V.S.C., The Darwen Roller Coaster Half Marathon.

How can this be ?

Well the appearance of The Tour de France in the south of England some years ago caused such congestion, chaos and consequent safety fears over such a large area that Legislation was passed giving local police the power to stop such activities. The Legislation was, however, worded in such a way that it can be applied equally to prevent The Tour de France, with it's numerous bikes and support vehicles and it's even more numerous spectators and their vehicles, from clogging up the south of England for a day or two during the week or to prevent a foot race from holding up local traffic for a few minutes in Lancashire on a Sunday morning.

Yes, this is a biased and probably simplistic view but if anyone can explain the situation better please me

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