Chance to meet the medallists

SILVER lady . . . Dorothy Shirley-Emerson

TWO sporting greats will be in Oldham at the weekend — one for a fun run and another to raise the flag to mark the hand-over of the Olympic Games to London.

Commonwealth 800m gold medalist Diane Modahl will be taking part in a fun run at Alexandra Park.

And later in the afternoon, special guest at the Olympic flag ceremony will be Dorothy Shirley-Emerson, who won the high jump silver medal at the Rome Olympics in 1960.

The fun run starts at 1.30pm and the free event is open to people of all ages and abilities and will see participants run, jog or walk the 800m course around the park.

Everyone who takes part will receive a medal and certificate.

John Dwan, managing director of Sport4Life, the organisation delivering the event on behalf of national sports charity StreetGames and Community 1st Oldham, said: “The event has been kept completely free to enter and open to all ages to really encourage families and groups of friends to take part.”

Oldham Community Leisure, Oldham Council and the Oldham Community Health Services helped to plan the route to ensure all levels of ability can get in on the act.

Families from the Mind Exercise Nutrition Do It (MEND) a project to tackle child obesity, will also be involved.

Throughout the day families will be able to visit the various stalls to learn more about healthy lifestyles.

And the sporting theme continues once the fun run is over, with a ceremony for the raising of the visiting London 2012 Olympics flag at Oldham Civic Centre at 3.30pm to mark the hand-over from Beijing.

Dorothy Shirley-Emerson will speak alongside the leader of the council, Howard Sykes, and raise the flag where it will remain flying until the end of September.

The flag-raising ceremony is one of many taking place across the UK to celebrate the beginning of a campaign to increase participation in sports across the country in the run up to London 2012.

Anyone who would like to take part in the fun run is asked to log on to: www.run4fun.co.uk or phone 0845 1300 849.