Lady Mary Peters urges us to be inspired and het active at ParkRun this weekend

With a new Northern Ireland record for most medals won at a Commonwealth Games and the Northern Ireland women’s football team reaching the UEFA Women’s EURO tournament for the first time in history, it has been a unique summer of sport.

New research shows parents feel that sporting activity like this on TV and in the media provides important inspiration for their children to be more active.

New research released this week by the National Lottery shows that 80% of parents say that the presence of sporting role models on TV plays a role in encouraging their children to be more active. This was especially true for girls, with 84% of parents saying they felt an increased profile for female athletes plays a positive role in giving their daughters relatable role models to aspire to.

The National Lottery is now encouraging people who are looking for a way to get active, to get down to their local parkrun this weekend. parkrun is the UK’s biggest mass participation event and has so far benefitted from over £3.6m in National Lottery funding. parkrun is a place where people can walk, jog, run, volunteer or go along to watch, and is currently in more than 1000 communities across the UK.

Lady Mary Peters, former Olympic and Commonwealth Champion, and head of The Mary Peters Trust, a charity helping young people to achieve their sporting ambitions, knows only too well the power of sporting role models on our young people. She said:

“This has certainly been an inspirational summer of sport for Northern Ireland, with our women’s football team participating for the first time ever in a UEFA Women’s Euro tournament, what must be a defining moment for the development of the women’s game here, and the many stand-out performances from our local athletes at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.”

“I’m thinking especially of Bethany Firth’s in the S14 200m freestyle swimming representing the first gold medal of the games for Northern Ireland; what an achievement! Then on Sunday we had Amy Broadhurst becoming the first female to win a boxing Commonwealth gold medal for Northern Ireland. Kate O’Connor’s silver medal winning performance in the women’s heptathlon was nail biting to watch as was the impressive performance by Ciara Mageean to come home with a silver in the 1500m final. It was fantastic to see silver medals go to Rhys McClenaghan, Daniel Wiffin and Chloe Maccombe in gymnastics, swimming and para-triathlon.”

“It has been an outstanding Commonwealth Games for Northern Ireland with our athletes bringing home a new record number of medals, eighteen in total. I really don’t think we can underestimate the impact of these sporting role models on our young people. Listening to our athletes on TV so eloquently describing their personal journeys, their unwavering commitment to their sport, their gratitude for the support they have received both personally and financially and their great focus, grit and determination, has such a positive effect on the next generation of athletes, watching from home and dreaming about their hopes for the future.”

“Parkrun is certainly a great way to take that first step towards being active, even if the end goal is not to win Olympic gold! I’m a great believer in encouraging people of all ages, both disabled and able bodied to get out and give sport a go.”

Regular Queen’s University Belfast parkrun volunteer and runner Vincent Bradley recognises the positive impact Parkrun has had on his family’s life.

Vincent’s daughter, Meabh, (soon to be 20), was born with birth trauma leading to cerebral palsy. Meabh is in a wheelchair and is non-verbal though has, since March 2020, had the use of a communications device, provided through her speech therapist and school, which allows her to speak and communicate for the first time with those around her.

Meabh has been a pupil for 17 years, since her nursery and pre-school years, at Fleming Fulton School in Belfast. Meabh is looking forward to taking a new direction in September 2022, when she will begin a three-year Independence for Life and Work course at Belfast Met.

Retired from Belfast Public Libraries and a full-time carer to Meabh, Vincent, his wife Marian and two older siblings Finola and Ronan, moved to their current purpose-built home overlooking the Queen’s University Belfast parkrun grounds in May 2018 and have been part of the Queen’s Parkrun family ever since. Vincent and Meabh have each achieved the milestone of completing 100 parkruns.

Vincent explained the importance of being active together, saying: “Meabh just loves coming running with me. We recently completed the Lisburn 10k together in 48 minutes! It was just a glorious day for us both.”

Vincent said: “You may think that I am one of those pushy parents, bringing my daughter with me to Parkrun just to do something I enjoy. But you have to understand, it is Meabh who insists on coming rain, hail or snow. She never wants to miss a Saturday, even if it means being dressed up in five layers and waterproofs on top. She just says, ‘not missing’ (Parkrun), if we even suggest it!”

Meabh also fulfils her role as a Parkrun volunteer doing her 1 parkrun in 10 as a volunteer like everyone else. She enjoys taking part as a marshal or a ‘tail walker’ ensuring that all Parkrun participants finish safely and that nobody is left behind.

Vincent said: “Becoming involved in Parkrun has been a real game-changer for Meabh and me. It gets us out in the air, active and involved in a broader parkrun family who look out for one another and encourage people of all abilities to get involved.”

Although a keen club runner in his youth, Vincent hung up his competitive shoes when work and family commitments took over. He explained that another bi-product of his involvement in parkrun with Meabh has been an increase in his personal fitness to the point he is now able to take part in competitive running races again. He has recently completed both Belfast half and full marathons.

Matt Shields, Parkrun Ireland Manager said: “At parkrun we want to encourage people of all abilities to be active and to improve their health and wellbeing. We know from surveys that there are many sedentary people in the community who would like to take that first step but can’t because of perceived barriers such as finance, self esteem, fitness, ability, childcare. We seek to remove those barriers where possible.”

“With the effects of Lockdown and Covid still prevalent, we are now facing the prospect of an additional economic barrier so the need for a free event like parkrun has never been greater.”

“You don't have to run 5k to be a part of the parkrun community, you can walk, jog, run, bring your dog, volunteer and you'll never be last as we have a volunteer tail walker who walks the course behind all participants. All you need to do is register at www.parkrun.org.uk/register and then download your barcode for scanning on Saturday. I always say to newcomers to parkrun, if you're not sure what it's all about, why not come along and spectate and join us for tea or coffee afterwards? The important thing is to come along and take that first step.”

Each week across the UK, over 150,000 people take part in parkrun and over 12,500 of them are juniors.

National Lottery plays an important part as the power behind sport in the UK, raising more than £30million a week for good causes, including vital funding into sport - including over £3.5m of funding to parkrun.

The National Lottery and parkrun have joined forces to encourage people across the UK to take part in their local parkrun this weekend. For more information, visit: www.parkrun.org.uk