Hundreds of youngsters will be able to get fit and keep active, thanks to a new initiative being launched this Sunday, 24th July.
The very first Burnley junior park run will kick off at 9am in Towneley Park with children tackling a picturesque 2km route. The free weekly run is open to all children four to 14 years old.
Councillor Bea Foster, Burnley Council’s executive member for leisure and culture, said: “Junior parkrun is a great way to get children into the habit of taking part in enjoyable regular exercise in a supportive environment. This is vitally important if we are to successfully encourage young people to pursue active and healthy lifestyles in adulthood.”
The junior version of the successful Burnley parkrun, which now attracts more than 360 runners every Saturday, is led by Burnley Athletic Club, in partnership with Burnley Leisure.
The run has been made possible thanks to a team of volunteers who got together to organise the event, which is also the first junior parkrun in Lancashire.
To help with start-up costs, the junior parkrun has been given a boost from the East Lancashire Clinical Commissioning Group Prescription for Wellbeing Fund.
Paul Foster, head of development at Burnley Leisure, said: “We want to help improve the health and wellbeing of children and young people in Burnley by providing regular, safe and supportive opportunities for children and their families to take part in sport and physical activity, so we are delighted to be able to continue the development of parkrun in Burnley.”
The junior parkrun events provide a great way for people to keep fit, running at their own pace in an attractive and safe environment.
It’s a timed run, not a race, and the emphasis is always on fun and participation rather than competition.
A typical Sunday already sees more than 5,000 young participants take part across over a hundred junior parkruns throughout the country, and the ambition is to engage more than 60,000 new young people and their families across additional junior parkrun events.
