ONE of the biggest events in the Cumbrian calendar is set to go ahead this September after last year’s cancellation.

The hugely popular Keswick to Barrow walk will take place this September, organisers have confirmed/

The annual 40-mile endurance event traditionally attracts crowds of runners and walkers who raise an estimated £350,000 for local, regional and national charities each year.

Due to the coronavirus outbreak, last year’s Keswick and Coniston to Barrow walks were postponed to September 18 2021, and committee member John McIntosh is hopeful this year’s event will go ahead.

“As a committee we never considered it realistic that K2B would take place in May as it usually does,” he said.

“If it were to happen in 2021, we knew it would have to be at the back end of the year.

“After the announcement on Monday, we had a committee meeting and decided that we should be able to deliver a safe event in September if everything goes according to plan.

“However, everything that’s gone on in the last 12 months, we’ve got to be cautiously optimistic.”

Mr McIntosh said the event would be a ‘welcome lift’ to the community after a difficult year.

“It’s been a very positive reaction since we confirmed the event was happening,” he said.

“We’re all about delivering a safe community-based event which generates income for deserving charities who have missed out on so much funding in the past year."

Registration for K2B 2021 is still currently closed. Organisers are deferring entrants from May 2020 to this year’s event and will be confirming if any spaces are available in the coming months.