- Ras yr Iaith is not a competitive race for athletes, Ras yr Iaith is a race for the Welsh language by the Welsh people. Its purpose is to celebrate the Welsh language, to raise awareness, show confidence in the language and to show the world that the language has support by all, whether you speak the language or not.
Individuals, families, local businesses and clubs, institutions and schools can sponsor a stretch or more and will be given the honour of running with the Ras baton. It will cost £50 to sponsor a stretch. The whole school or village football team can run that stretch. After running your sponsored stretch you’re welcome to continue to run for free! Our dream is to see thousands of people running to celebrate the Welsh language.
The baton will be specially made for the run by Ysgol Gyfun Penweddig (the Welsh-medium high school in Aberystwyth) and sponsored by Mentrau Iaith Cymru. It will be passed on from hand to hand as the runners pass on their support for the language. Don’t worry – you’re not expected to run the whole route!
The Ras is based on the Korrika relay run for the Basque language which was begun in 1980. The success of the Korrika lead to similar runs for the languages in Brittany (Redadeg) and Ireland (an Rith). Wales will be next, with us in Machynlleth and Ceredigion leading the way.
There’s an opportunity for everyone to be a part of the run, either through running, sponsoring or supporting – there’s no excuse for not being a part of this amazing, inclusive and positive celebration of the language which makes us unique among the world’s communities and nations. To find out how you can take part, click here.
Who is Rhedadeg?
The race is administered by a not-for-profit company Rhedadeg Ltd. This is the company responsible for insurance and dealing with payments. Rhedadeg was formed in 2010 by the company’s directors, Siôn Jobbins and Arwel Jones to administer Ras yr Iaith. Company Number: 07319257
The organisation of the race is done by the Mentrau Iaith – a network of groups (Non-profit companies or / and charities) across the country working with the local community.
