A RETIRING race director who helped raise millions of pounds for the Meirionnydd economy has reflected on his last decade in charge.

George Watson has been responsible for the annual Race the Train event in Tywyn, where hundreds of runners attempt to beat a Talyllyn steam engine in a 14-mile cross country race, but conducted his final race last Saturday.

Over 1,800 runners participated in the day, which also includes some shorter races too, which is organised by the town’s local Rotary Club and is estimated to bring approximately £1m into the local economy every year.

“Organising Race the Train has been a fun, enjoyable and at times challenging experience,” he reminisced. “We brought in many changes to the event when I took over the race director’s role back in 2006, many of which enhanced the event and reduced the workload for the Rotary Club of Tywyn members.

“We modernised proceedings by chip timing the race for example, or even introducing online entries which made it easier for everyone involved.

"The most pleasurable part of the event was always race day though. Seeing all our efforts come together to produce a first-class event and meeting up with the hundreds of volunteers and the runners - many of whom turned up year after year - was always special.

"However, as I have pointed out on a number of occasions the core organisation of the event is carried out by the Rotary Club which has an increasingly small and ageing club membership, where the average age of the club members is somewhere around 70 years plus.

"For this reason, I have decided that the time is right to step down. Thanks to everyone for all their support.”See this week's north editions for the full story, in shops and online now