After 38 years, the annual Kings Langley Puffaten has finally reached the finish line.
A regular feature of village life since it was founded by former postman John Cherry in 1986, the Puffaten has been organised by the Comets Road Running Club (CRRC) for the past decade. Much of the organising was done by local district councillor Alan Johnson, who is a Comets member.
However, cllr Johnson has decided now is the time to bring the event to an end and has cancelled this year’s race due to a low number of sign-ups.
In a letter to other members of the CRRC, cllr Johnson said: “The last time we ran the event, we did not panic with a low number of pre-race entries, as we normally got a reasonable entry from those who chose to enter on the day.
“However, numbers didn’t improve greatly, and the club ‘lost’ £400, when the aim of the event is that all profits went to local charities.”
With even fewer sign-ups this year and money needed to register the event with the relevant authorities beforehand, cllr Johnson decided to bring the Puffaten to a close, a decision he told Kings News had been hard.
He said: “With three weeks to go, the number of entries received suggested it was going to cost the club a lot of money again to continue.
“Nevertheless, over 38 years, a great deal of money has been raised for a wide variety of local charities and, for the last 10 years, entries have been gift aided with the additional income going to Kings Langley Primary School.”
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