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World champ Lauren Price named as mystery runner

PA Media Lauren Price in her boxing kit with two large boxing champion belts, draped over each of her shouldersPA Media
Lauren Price, who retained her world welterweight title in December, is the Nos Galan mystery runner

World champion boxer Lauren Price has been unveiled as 2024's Nos Galan mystery runner.

The race, in Mountain Ash, Rhondda Cynon Taf, celebrates the life of legendary runner Guto Nyth Brân.

It has been run on New Year's Eve since 1958 and attracts thousands of spectators every year.

Welterweight title holder Price was joined by a second mystery runner, Ria Burrage-Male, who competed for Wales as a hockey player in a Commonwealth Games.

"These women are the epitome of sporting and personal achievement," said Ann Crimmings from the Nos Galan Road Races Committee, which organises the event with funding from Rhondda Cynon Taf council.

"It will be a thrill for everyone watching and taking part in Nos Galan to have the chance to see these inspirational women tonight," she said.

"Particularly brilliant as Lauren and Ria are valleys girls themselves.

"They show just what can be achieved with hard work and dedication and I am sure there are young people in the crowd tonight who will be inspired and, hopefully, continue to apply themselves to whatever they are passionate about in the same way."

What is Nos Galan?

Founded in 1958 by Bernard Baldwin, Nos Galan is a 3.1-mile (5km) race around Mountain Ash town centre.

There are the male and female elite running events, as well as a fun run and children's races.

It starts with a church service at Llanwonno, where a torch is lit and carried to Mountain Ash.

The mystery runner tradition sees a famous sportsperson, whose identity is kept secret until the night, lay a wreath on the grave of Guto Nyth Brân, who died in 1737.

Ria Burrage-Male at the side of a hockey pitch. She has shoulder length straight black hair and is wearing a grey sweater over a pink t-shirt
Former player Ria Burrage-Male was chief executive of Welsh hockey for five years

The tales of his achievements are now mixed with legend, including stories of him catching wild hares and running the seven miles (11km) to Pontypridd and back before his mother's kettle boiled.

The races were halted in 1973 due to concerns expressed by police about delays to traffic, but were resurrected in 1984.

The format and route has changed over the years, but currently consists of three circuits of the town centre, starting in Henry Street Relief Road and ending in Oxford Street, by the commemorative statue of Guto Nyth Brân.