RUNNING initiative GO Run For Fun held its first free UK event of the year in Hull on 24 April in partnership with Active Humber, inviting 1100 local primary school children to take part in a run and learn more about living a healthy lifestyle.
Aged between 5 and 10, children from 20 primary schools* across the Humber area came together at Brantingham Park, home to the Hull Ionians Rugby team, to tackle the 2 kilometre route. Interest was high, with many more schools on a waiting list alongside the schools already involved.
The event was a huge success, with Commonwealth gold medalist and sprinter Harry Aikines-Aryeetey showing his support as the ambassador.
When speaking about what attracted Harry to the event, he said: “I’m a strong believer of staying active and enjoying progress/training whilst having fun. I’ve always loved running from a young age [and] the feeling of being fast always fascinated me. Running has taught me many life skills, most importantly how to be the best me.”
Harry also offered his advice for young people on staying active, saying: “Always enjoy sport as it’s a luxury. Never make it a chore or something negative.”
Alongside the event, GO Run For Fun provided a Health & Wellbeing programme to educate young children about the importance of diet and regular exercise. Special Agents were selected and have been set a six week mission to get their school healthy and active.
Kate Atkinson, Youth Event and Education Executive at GO Run For Fun, said: “We are very excited to have kick-started our 2018 GO Run For Fun programme in Humber; a new location for us and a great place to launch our new Health & Wellbeing programme.”
Jo McDonald, County Sports Partner at Active Humber added: “Here at Active Humber it is our mission to get everyone active, every day, so fully inclusive events like these encourage the less competitive children to come and join in, regardless of their ability. This event was open to all the Primary schools in the Humber so it was great to see so many children from all four Local Authority areas take part. It’s been an amazing day and hopefully we will run it again next year.”
GO Run For Fun, which is run in partnership with the Great Run series, is aiming to get a total of 55,000 children running by the end of the 2018 by organising a total of 20 mass running events across the UK.
The initiative is supported by INEOS, a multinational company headquartered in London, with health and fitness at the heart of its ethos.
INEOS Chairman, Jim Ratcliffe, who is deeply passionate about running, said: “It has never been more important to support young people in leading healthier, more active lives. We are very proud to support and celebrate these two initiatives (GO Run For Fun & The Daily Mile) that have been making a positive impact on the health and wellbeing of hundreds of thousands of children in the UK and beyond, for the last four years.”
GO Run For Fun organises free running events across the world to inspire children to be more active. To find out more about GO Run For Fun, visit www.thedailymileevents.com.
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITOR:
The GO Run For Fun campaign is delivered by the GO Run For Fun Foundation in partnership with Nova International, organisers of the Great Run series. Find out more about Great Runs here.
*South Cave PS
Rawcliffe
Rawcliffe Bridge
Humberston Cloverfields Academy
Western Primary School
Oakfield Primary School
St Marys Primary Catholic Academy
William Barcroft Junior School
Riverside Special School
Driffield Junior School
Bilton Community Primary School
Bellfield Primary School
Kingsmill Special School
Craven Primary Academy
Pocklington Community Junior School
Sutton on Derwent
Leven Primary School
St Mary Queen of Matrys VC Academy
Wold Newton School
St Annes School
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Tegan Denwood or Holly Peacock-Goodwin at O PR
Tel: 0191 232 5690
Email: tegan@opr.co.uk/holly@opr.co.uk