Schoolchildren will combine exercise with an exciting day out when GO Run for Fun visits the Isle of Man.
 
The event, on Friday 11th July, will see primary pupils aged seven to 11 running and walking 2kms around the track and cycle raceway at the National Sports Centre, Douglas.
 
The newly branded event replaces the Great School Run and, like it, is organised by Nova, the company behind the Great North Run. 
 
Last year’s event at the NSC, the second to be held in the Isle of Man, saw more than 1,000 children participate.
 
There to start them off was Helen Clitheroe, a Commonwealth Games bronze-medal-winning distance runner. In 2012, Colin Jackson, an Olympic silver medal-winning hurdler and former world record holder, was at the event.
 
The identity of this year’s celebrity is a closely-guarded secret. GO Run for Fun mascot ‘Dart’ will be at the event.
 
Colin, a GO Run for Fun Ambassador, said: ‘We really must make sure that children are given the opportunity to get active from an early age and GO Run for Fun provides the chance to do just that. If they enjoy it, you never know where it might end up. We might find a new talent for the future.’
 
Trevor Christian, Athletics and Community Sports Development Officer with the Department of Education and Children, said: ‘The emphasis is most definitely on fun, so it doesn’t matter if children walk, jog, run or any combination of the three to finish the route. The most important thing is that they get out there, get active and enjoy themselves.’
 
It’s free to take part in GO Run for Fun. Entries are still open and schools wishing to sign up should contact Trevor at the Sport Development Unit on 688576 or email trevor.christian@gov.im
 
Photo - Rachael Franklin, senior 800m record holder and the Island’s top middle distance athlete and winner of this year’s Easter Festival of Running; David Anderson MHK, Member of the Department of Education and Children with responsibility for sport, and Trevor Christian, Athletics and Community Sports Development Officer with the DEC, launching GO Run for Fun.