Cross Country Success

More than 650 primary school children joined forces in Chorley this weekend to kick off the INEOS GO Run For Fun™ event 2016.

The youngsters took part in the run at Astley Park, Chorley on Saturday 19th March, with support from the GO Run For Fun mascot, Dart.

Having already encouraged more than 107,537 children to get running through over 190 fun run events, the GO Run For Fun campaign is the biggest children’s running initiative in the world. 

By the end of this year it aims to encourage many more kids to get off the couch, give the TV a rest and get active.

Gemma Stokes, event organiser and partnership manager for Chorley School Sport Partnership, said: “The GO Run For Fun event is such a great activity and we’re pleased and proud to be involved. This is our biggest flagship event of the year. Chorley School Sport Partnership is currently piloting Run 4 Life campaign, with primary schools in the area pledging to put their best foot forward to run a daily mile to improve their health and well-being. GO Run For Fun fits perfectly with the project and with our involvement generally in the national Change 4 Life campaign to engage with young people to get active – it’s fun, rewarding and takes place at a fantastic local venue too!” 

The GO Run For Fun campaign is the idea of Jim Ratcliffe, owner of INEOS, one of the UK’s largest manufacturing companies, which announced a £1.5m donation spread over three years to encourage children to run for fun by establishing the GO Run For Fun charitable foundation. The GO Run For Fun Foundation is also now supporting the nationwide roll-out of The Daily Mile (www.thedailymile.co.uk) across the country- which ties in perfectly with GO Run For Fun’s events and ethos.

Running is the basis of so many great sports. If our children can catch the running bug early, they’re more likely to stick to it, and this can only lead to them having more active and healthier lifestyles in the future.”           

Moving more is an important part of tackling childhood obesity which is fast-becoming one of the leading areas of public health concern in England.