The London Marathon Foundation, the charity associated with the London Marathon Group (LMG), has pledged £1.19 million to support junior parkrun with the aim of motivating children

to lead active lives. This three-year partnership aims to attract over 300,000 additional children to participate in the free events by 2026.

Junior parkrun is a weekly event where youngsters aged four to 14 complete a 2km course. Presently, there are 405 such events throughout the UK, with 22,000 children taking part every Sunday.

According to LMG, a Sport England survey from 2022 revealed that 53% of children do not meet the chief medical officer's recommendations of engaging in an average of an hour of sports and physical activities per day.

The partnership's objective is to establish more than 120 new junior parkrun events across the UK, particularly targeting communities with high levels of physical inactivity.

Catherine Anderson, Executive Director of the London Marathon Foundation, highlighted that access to physical activities for young people has been hampered by the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis. She emphasized that this partnership aims to promote a healthier and more active future for children and youth across the UK, with a particular focus on deprived areas.

Chrissie Wellington, representing parkrun UK, expressed her excitement about the partnership and noted that while junior parkrun is already making a difference, there is much more they can achieve in the future. Photo by Nick Summers, Wikimedia commons.