Over 700 children take part in The Daily Mile fun run

AND THEY’RE OFF!: Children in East Park setting off on GO Run For Fun

By Rick Lyon

More than 700 children from Hull and the East Riding took part in a special fun run as part of a hugely popular health and wellbeing initiative.

GO Run For Fun, an event by The Daily Mile and supported by INEOS, was held at East Park in the city, with children taking part coming from schools including Gillshill Primary School, Cavendish Primary School and Ings Primary School. They were joined by players from Hull Kingston Rovers and their mascot, Rufus the Robin. 

The event, which was free for schools and organised by INEOS Acetyls employees, also saw support from local representatives including Active Humber, HEY Children’s University, Hull Kingston Rovers Foundation and HFR Solutions, alongside over 50 volunteers. 

Rob Fergie, Hull site manager for INEOS Acetyls, said: “We are incredibly proud to have held this event in Hull, and we hope we’ve played a part in inspiring more local school children to get active.

“As a local business, we understand the importance of supporting our community, and seeing the enthusiasm, enjoyment and sense of pride the kids showed after completing their run was brilliant.

“A huge thank you to everyone who supported the event and all the schools which got involved.” 

GO Run For Fun is a worldwide campaign, set up to inspire children to be more active through fun short distance running events. It has been a phenomenal success so far with over 340,000 children having taken part since 2013. Events now take place in countries including Belgium, France, Germany, India and the USA. 

Craig Shepherd, CEO of the Hull Kingston Rovers Foundation, said: “Hull KR Foundation has supported the region’s local communities for over 15 years, so to be part of this event promoting the benefits of being physically active to more than 700 local children is a privilege. We loved the experience and the smiles on the kid’s faces.” 

The Daily Mile initiative was started by former head teacher Elaine Wyllie MBE, of St Ninian’s Primary in Stirling, Scotland, in 2012 and has grown every year, with the support of INEOS. It sees children run, jog, wheel or walk for 15 minutes at their own pace in fresh air during the school day, improving physical, social, emotional and mental wellbeing.  

In Hull, there are now over 21,000 children across 60 schools taking part in The Daily Mile each day. Physical Health England estimates physical inactivity has cost the city approximately £35m a year, with 38 per cent of Hull’s children leaving primary school overweight or obese. 

There are now more than 4.5 million children taking part in The Daily Mile, across over 19,000 schools, in 97 countries around the world. It is endorsed by some of the world’s most successful athletes, including marathon world record holder Eliud Kipchoge, the most successful Olympic sailor of all time Sir Ben Ainslie and the All Blacks. 

Elaine said: “It’s fantastic to see The Daily Mile GO Run For Fun events taking place nationwide, spreading the message and encouraging kids to get active.

“We can’t thank the volunteers and Hull Kingston Rovers enough for joining – sharing their passion for exercise with the children from their local area.

“Just 15 minutes of daily physical activity improves a child’s mood, concentration, and memory – enhancing their ability to learn.”