Athletics legend Steve Cram has teamed up with three local midwives to encourage residents in Northumberland to get more active.
Together they led a group run from the brand new Active Northumberland Berwick Sports & Leisure Centre. The event also reminded people to take part in the Kielder Marathon series of races over October 1-2 and highlighted the support available.
Labelled ‘Britain’s most beautiful’ and now in its 12th year, the Active Northumberland Kielder Marathon weekend is organised by Events of the North in partnership with Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, Northumberland County Council and Northumbrian Water.
More than 3,500 runners are expected to take part across the weekend, which includes a 10K, individual and team duathlons, a half marathon, a marathon, and junior races. Alongside leading club athletes, many runners will be raising money for good causes, including the event’s official charity partner, Bright Northumbria.
Managed by Active Northumberland, the new £22.6m Berwick Sports & Leisure Centre has been funded by Northumberland County Council and is a state of the art facility for residents in the north of the county.
Active Northumberland is offering a couch to 5K support to residents at the Berwick site and centres throughout the county, with the aim of attracting new runners during the summer who will consider making participation in a Kielder Marathon race their autumn target. In addition, Active Northumberland members will be offered an exclusive discount for entering one of the events.
This week, Kielder Marathon founder Steve Cram led a run from the new centre with Berwick midwives Paula Thomas, Ailsa Wedderburn and Wendy Scott, who are helping to deliver the Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust’s public health agenda.
Steve Cram said: "We all know how important getting active is for everyone’s physical and mental health, but simply repeating that statement time and again won’t change anything. So, it’s brilliant that Northumberland County Council has invested in this excellent new facility and we’re delighted to be working with Active Northumberland and Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust to really push the message about the support available to residents. Talking of pushing, as midwives who work at the heart of the community, Paula, Ailsa and Wendy are fantastic ambassadors and I am sure that they will encourage more people to take up running and join us at Kielder in October."
Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust is one of just four organisations in the country to be part of the Active Hospitals pilot, which seeks to train healthcare professionals to promote physical activity and signpost patients to resources or support services for physical activity.
The trust’s coordinator for Active Hospitals, Ruth Stevens, said: "Any kind of physical activity and movement is beneficial and can boost your physical, mental and social wellbeing, which is why we are so keen to ensure that our staff can be active themselves and can also explain and promote the benefits to patients. An event like the Kielder Marathon can play a major role in encouraging people to get active, but whether it’s running a marathon, exploring the fantastic Northumberland countryside or something much smaller, every movement counts and it’s all about discovering the right activity for you."
Brenda Longstaff, Northumbria Healthcare’s head of charity, added: "As an NHS charity, we are only too aware of the benefits that physical activity and enjoying the outdoors can have on people’s health and wellbeing, which is why we are delighted that Bright is the main charity partner for this year’s Kielder Marathon once again. This will support us in our ongoing fundraising efforts, which all serve to enhance the experience for our patients."
The 2022 Kielder Marathon weekend is 1-2 October and entries are now open for all events. The Kielder 10K and Run-Bike-Run will start at 1pm on Saturday 1 October. Entry into the 10K costs £25 for runners from affiliated clubs and £27 for unaffiliated runners.
Individual places in the Run-Bike-Run cost £60 (affiliated)/£63 (unaffiliated) and team places cost £83. The Kielder Half Marathon will start at 10:15am on Sunday 2 October and is priced at £35/£37. The Kielder Marathon will start at the same time and entry costs £40/£42.
The Kielder Junior Runs will start from 10:45am on the Sunday, with races for U11 and U16 runners, each costing £8 to enter. Members of Active Northumberland will be sent an email with the special discount offer that they can redeem. All finishers will receive a medal, goody bag and t-shirt.
For more information about the Active Northumberland Kielder Marathon races and to book a place, visit www.kieldermarathon.com. Follow @kieldermarathon on Twitter for the latest updates from the event.
